The Hardest of Hearts
by Colibio
Summary: Naomi Campbell is a socialite from England who has lost touch with reality. Emily Fitch is an American girl running a hotel in Vermont. What will happen when their paths cross?
1. Chapter 1

"Naomi! Over here! Smile for me, babe!" The flash of the bulbs along with the effects of alcohol made walking in the dark an exceptionally difficult task.

"Move out of the way, now!" Naomi covered her face with her arm as an exceptionally pushy photographer shot off another half-dozen photos. Just as the paparazzi hoped, the chaos outside the nightclub made Naomi look dazed and confused. To add insult to injury her heel caught on a lip in the sidewalk as she was stepping down from the curb. She stumbled sideways and came dangerously close to planting her face on the sidewalk before she felt her bodyguard's strong arms around her waist.

"Come on, we're almost there." His words had little emotion in them. When they finally reached the black escalade that was awaiting her, she felt her feet lift off the ground as her bodyguard stuffed her into the back seat. After making sure all her extremities were safely in the vehicle, he quickly slammed the door.

The loud screaming of the paparazzi instantly became muffled, and their flash bulbs were muted by the darkness of the tinted windows. Naomi laid her head back on the seat and let out an exhausted sigh. Her ears were still ringing as an after-effect of the club's loud music, and the back seat was beginning to spin violently as a result of the massive amounts of alcohol she'd consumed. She closed her eyes to try to get away from the motion and sighed again. _Just another night in the lovely life of Naomi Campbell_. _Bloody fantastic. _

* * *

"Naomi, look at you - you're a mess!" Naomi was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hands. She was wearing only an oversize pullover and her underwear. She hadn't realized her mother hadn't left for work yet.

"Muuum…" Naomi moaned, "Shhh, please!"

"Don't shush me young lady!" Naomi dropped her head onto the table; her mother's voice was making her dull headache pound. She massaged her temples to try to get some relief.

"…just because you're irresponsible and had too much to drink and God only knows what else last night, doesn't mean the world has to adjust to you…" Naomi was trying to think where this was coming from. _She_ _must have seen some unflattering photos of me in The Sun or The Daily Mirror. _

"Listen to me. I know you think that because you're 18 you can take care of yourself, but I think we can both see this just isn't working. Sweetie, I'm your mother. I only want the best for you, and seeing you this way is breaking my heart." Naomi's stomach tightened as her mother's voice cracked on the last word. She lifted her head off the table to look at her. _My God, she looks haggard. When did she start looking old? _Her mother had deep rings under his eyes, and her usually carefully dyed roots were almost completely gray. _I've been so caught up in my own life that I don't think I've taken a good look at her in months. _Her stomach clenched again, only this time a wave of nausea hit her.

"Shit. Mum, I think I'm going to be sick." Naomi slapped her hand over her mouth and quickly ran to the bathroom, leaving her defeated mother sitting alone at the kitchen table holding his daughter's cup of coffee.

* * *

Naomi retched and vomited for a good 20 minutes. Whatever the hell she had ingested the night before just kept coming out. _This is ridiculous. _Finally she got herself up off her knees and made her way over to the sink to splash some water on her face. As she reached for the hand towel she caught sight of herself in the mirror and stopped dead. _Jesus fuck! _She leaned in for a closer look.

Her eyeliner had run down her face, leaving behind black streaks. The night before her eye shadow had looked sexily smoky but now it was downright frightening, and her blue eyes looked painfully bloodshot. _Christ, it looks like my fucking eyes are bleeding. _Her short blond hair was matted down on the sides and sticking up at the top. Naomi couldn't help but chuckle to herself. _If only the paparazzi could see me now. _

After taking a long hot shower and thoroughly brushing her teeth, Naomi walked out of the bathroom feeling quite a bit better. When she got to her room she was dismayed to see her mother sitting on her bed.

"Mum! I could've been naked, haven't you ever heard of privacy?" Her mother acted as if she hadn't heard her - instead she sighed and stood up.

"I want you to get dressed and pack a suitcase. We are going on a trip."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Her mother's face remained stonily serious as she took a few steps towards her.

"I am not going to stand by and watch as history repeats itself, you hear me? Now pack your bags and let's go. I already rang for a taxi." With that her mother turned and walked out the door. Naomi could barely believe her eyes. She hadn't seen her mother this serious and close to anger in…well, ever. Begrudgingly, Naomi got dressed and packed her bags. As she rubbed her arms to try to make the goose bumps go away, Naomi couldn't shake the feeling that her mother was about to do something extreme.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys - thanks so much to those of you who added this as a favorite! I started writing this story a few weeks ago and realized after a few chapters that the characters were eerily similar to Emily and Naomi so I decided to take the plunge and turn it into a fan fiction. I've never written anything before (let alone posted it on the internet!) so I'm a bit nervous to see how this is received. Either way I'm having fun writing it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it just as much :)**

Extreme turned out to be the wrong word; something more akin to the likes of absolutely ape-shit crazy seemed more fitting.

"Vermont?" Naomi was already in the taxi when her mother told her where they were headed. "What the _fuck _is Vermont?" Her mother placed her hand firmly on her knee.

"It's a state in America, dear."

"America? As in, slutty Hollywood cokeheads and Jersey-shore juiceheads?"

"Yes, but I doubt you'll see any of those people where we're going." Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Why's that? What is in Vermont? I've only ever heard of New York, California, and Florida. Oh, and Texas because their idiot of a president was from there."

"Mmhmm…"

"Ugh Mum! I'm pretty sure this is illegal." Her mother paid her no mind. The only thing Naomi could do was to fold her arms over her chest and look out the window. She felt like she was 5 years old again.

* * *

After almost two full days of travel, Naomi and her mother arrived in the town of Peacham, Vermont. They had taken three planes, a bus, and a taxi to get there and Naomi was jetlagged and exhausted.

"Here we are sweetheart." Naomi had fallen asleep in the back of the taxi – which was really just an old van - when her mother roused her from sleep. It was the first time she'd closed her eyes in 48 hours so she was not happy to be woken. After mumbling a few incomprehensible complaints she slowly opened her eyes.

They were parked in the driveway of a large chalet-style house. She blinked her eyes a few times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. _What the hell is this? _

"Where is the hotel?" She looked to her mother.

"This is it." Naomi could feel the anger bubbling up inside of her. She had not gone through two days of hell only to stay in somebody else's fucking house.

"What the fuck? This isn't a hotel, this is a god damn house. Stop shitting about and let's go to a Hilton or something." Her mother looked at her sternly.

"I told you not to use that language."

"For fuck's sake mum! What's wrong with you?" Her mother's only answer was hopping out of the van and making her way to the trunk to get their bags. Naomi finally reached her breaking point – she ripped the van's door open and followed her to the trunk.

"FUCK YOU MUM! THIS ISN'T FAIR!" At 5"8 she was a few inches taller than her mother and she used her height to her advantage by grabbing her mother's shoulders and making her look up into her own eyes.

"Gina, stop this madness. I'm your daughter, Naomi! See? It's just me! Now lets get back in the van in go to a real hotel, please!" Her mother was unfazed by her closeness or the use of her first name.

"Sweetheart, keep your voice down will you?"

"Bloody HELL!" Naomi screamed, "You've really gone mad if you think you can make me stay here. I'm an adult, I can do as I damn well please." Her mother looked at her sternly for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she sighed.

"Alright," Naomi knew she'd won and smiled triumphantly "but right now we're both exhausted. I don't know about you but I haven't slept a wink in close to 48 hours, and I'm not about to get back in that van and run around looking for a better hotel feeling like I do." She put her arm around her daughter's waist and looked up at her. "Whad'yu say we sleep off our jetlag here and when we wake up we'll look for a better place?" Naomi looked at her skeptically but could only see sincerity in her mother's eyes. She sighed and put an arm around her mother's shoulder.

"Right-o mum." All of her energy seemed to drain out of her as she leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "Let's get to it then shall we? I'm knackered."

* * *

When Naomi opened her eyes she had no idea where she was. The room she was in was completely dark - her immediate thought was that she was at some guy's apartment and she'd had another one-night stand, but that notion quickly dissipated when she remembered the way she had screamed at her mother. _I really threw a wobbler didn't I? _

Naomi sat up in her bed slowly and tried to let her eyes become accustomed to the light – or lack thereof. After a few minutes she was pretty sure she could see the outlines of a window and moonlight streaming through the cracks of a curtain. With determination, Naomi began to make her way over towards the light that was seeping through. When she was almost there she stubbed her pinky toe on something with such force that she was sure it had fallen off.

"FUCK." She quickly pulled her foot up into her hands and hopped the rest of the way to the window. Frustrated, Naomi grabbed at the curtains and ripped them aside only to be awed at what she saw._ My God. _

The moon was so big and bright that she had to squint her eyes to look at it, and there were more stars in the sky than she'd ever seen. _Wow. Where the hell am I? _Just as she was turning around to find a chair, a bright light flooded her wide pupils.

"Ahhh, what the…" Naomi's arms shot over her eyes to make them stop burning.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I heard a thud and wanted to make sure you were alright." Naomi peered over her arm to see with whom she was speaking, but the light was aimed directly at her eyes - effectively blinding her.

"Excuse me. Do you think you could, I dunno, maybe put down your fucking flashlight? I can't see a damn thing." She heard a click and then the room was dark again.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm doing. Is everything ok?" The voice that spoke to her was still hoarse with sleep, but it definitely belonged to a female. She suddenly felt bad for snapping at her so harshly.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just stubbed my pinky." She waited for an answer but when none came she began to get nervous and felt the need to elaborate.

"Scientists say that we have no use for it anymore and we'll probably evolve to the point where we wont even have them anymore." Silence. Naomi's word vomit continued to flow freely, "Thank God for that, because all it's ever done for me is stick out just enough to get painfully caught on assorted objects." Naomi heard a throaty giggle come out of the darkness.

"Well, I'm glad to hear your pinky was the only casualty." Naomi felt her cheeks pull back into a wide grin.

"What time is it anyway?"

"It's three in the morning. I knew your internal clock would all messed up from the jetlag so I've been keeping my ears open. Can I get you anything?" Naomi was pretty thirsty, and she had to pee but she suddenly felt bad for rousing this person from sleep just because of her stupid little toe.

"Nope. I'm fine, thanks."

"Ok...I guess I'll see you in the morning then." Naomi heard her footsteps as she retreated towards the door. "Welcome to Peacham by the way."

"Uh…thanks." When the footsteps faded into silence, Naomi carefully found her way back to the bed. After a few hours of tossing and turning futilely she finally decided to quietly pull a chair up to the window and watch the sun rise.


	3. Chapter 3

If she was honest with herself, the sunrise was absolutely beautiful – it was like nothing she'd ever seen. The orange light that poured through the trees left a striking contrast between the shadows and the light. A short while later she began to hear the faint sound of what she thought were pots and pans clinking together so she decided to venture downstairs to take a look.

Naomi poked her head out of her room and looked both ways. To her left was a long hallway with several doors and to her right she could see the top of a staircase. She ran her fingers along the wooden wall, surprised at how smooth it felt, as she walked down the hallway. The stairs crunched homely under her weight as she made her way down to the first floor. _Jeez, this house has a language of its own._

When she reached the bottom step she looked around. The first thing she noticed was the beautiful natural light that was streaming in through the windows. _This looks like one of those lodges you only see in movies. I've got to admit_ _it's rather cozy. _Her assessment of the house was cut short when the smell of food hit her nostrils – she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. She followed the mouthwatering smell of bacon and eggs through several corridors until she reached a kitchen. She stopped short as she took in the beauty of it. The kitchen had a high ceiling with exposed rafters, several windows that allowed sunlight to pour in, and a wood floor. The sight of it filled her heart with a lightness she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Good morning." Naomi froze. It was the same husky voice that had spoken to her from the dark the night before. She turned her head to the left following the sound of the voice.

Sitting at a large wooden table she hadn't yet laid her eyes on, was a redheaded girl who was smiling at her warmly. Long bangs skimmed her forehead, but the rest of her hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She was wearing a loose-fitting dark green t-shirt that contrasted well with her pale skin, and a pair of very small boxer-briefs. Naomi promptly cut her inappropriate examination short when she realized that the redhead's penetrating dark brown eyes were focused intently on her.

"Uh…morning." _Good job, way to sound brilliant. _"I'm sorry about disturbing you last night."

"Oh it's no problem, to be honest, I was already up." The girl's warm smile slowly faded as if she realized she had just said something she shouldn't have.

"Odd hour to be rummaging around, isn't it?" The girl was suddenly very focused on the meal in front of her - her only answer being a simple shrug. Naomi decided to change the subject.

"I'm Naomi by the way." The girl looked up with a warm smile again. Then she got up and made her way over with an extended hand.

"Hi. I'm Emily." The girl was several inches shorter than Naomi, but had a very strong presence. She slowly grasped the outstretched hand, and felt heat radiate up her arm as their hands clasped. The heat flowed through Naomi's body, swiftly ending up in her cheeks. She quickly let go and stumbled for something to say.

"Er…do you know what room my mum's in? I think I better go wake the woman or she'll never get over her jet lag." Emily quickly looked down at her feet, suddenly not wanting to make eye contact again.

"Um…she's not here." She said sofly.

"Pardon?" Naomi watched as Emily took a deep breath and then looked her right in the eyes.

"She left."

"Like…went on a walk?"

"Um, no. Like, she left." Naomi scrunched her face into a confused frown, forcing the redhead to persist, "She left, as in last night she ordered a taxi and took all her bags and booked it out of here."

Silence. She saw the redhead's helpless expression as comprehension slowly started to spread across her own face.

"That fucking _cunt!_" Her words made Emily flinch. "She fucking flies me halfway across the world only to abandon me in the middle of fucking nowhere? What a fucking _cow!_" Naomi had started pacing back and forth. Her hands were running through her short blonde hair. Suddenly she whirled around and faced the worried girl in front of her. "Give me a telephone right now. I'm going to call the bitch." Naomi outstretched her hand and looked at the girl defiantly. "Now please!"

"Naomi…she asked me not to let you contact her. She-"

"She's my bloody mother and I'll do as I please. Now give me a god-damned phone!" Emily sighed and reluctantly pointed to a wall phone a few feet away.

"Knock yourself out," she mumbled and then she sat down at the table and resumed her breakfast.

* * *

Naomi slammed the phone down on the receiver. She could feel the threatening tears burning her eyes. _That fucking cunt! She disconnected her cell phone and nobody back home knows where the hell she is - she's gone completely mental. _She blinked several times to try to stop the tears from falling. _She tricked me. She fucking tricked me! And I fell for it, hard. How could I be so stupid? _A mix of rage and betrayal was storming around in her mind. _I have to get the fuck out of here. _With a sense resolve, Naomi practically ran out of the kitchen and began opening doors left and right to see which one led outside. When she finally found the front door she ripped it open and ran as fast as her legs could take her.

She ran until her legs were on fire and she could barely breathe – the combination of crying, being out of shape, and having smoked for three years proved to be a near-fatal concoction for Naomi. She fell to her hands and knees and wheezed so much she felt like she was going to vomit. When she finally caught her breath, the blonde realized she had no idea where she was. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked up. _Oh my… _Naomi slowly got to her feet and made her way over to a picturesque lake that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was gaping. _Christ, this is fucking stunning. _She caught sight of a dock about 100 meters away and began to make her way over as tears started flowing down her cheeks again.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily had tried all day long to deter thoughts of the beautiful but troubled blonde girl who was now staying at her hotel - so far she was failing miserably. The day before, Emily had caught sight of the girl, Naomi was her name, screaming at her mother in the driveway. She couldn't believe how calm her mother remained as her daughter screamed in her face - she acted as though it was a regular occurrence.

The two had checked into the hotel and gone straight up to their respective rooms to assumingly catch up on sleep. It was just after 10 p.m. when Naomi's mother had appeared in the hotel's music room (as it was popularly referred to since Emily had moved her instruments into it) while she was strumming quietly on her guitar.

"That sounds lovely." Emily jumped; she hadn't heard her come in. "Oh! I'm sorry I frightened you." The redhead shook her head and laughed quietly,

"Serves me right for getting carried away and playing so loudly. Did I wake you?"

"No no, I didn't know you were even playing until I was in the reception. I must say, this house is quite soundproof." Emily placed her guitar on its stand and stood up.

"Yeah, its pretty old so the walls are very thick. I guess back in the day building a solid house was more important than making a profit." Naomi's mom chuckled softly.

"They just don't make things like they used to anymore, eh?" Emily smiled.

"Can I get you anything, Ms. Campbell?"

"Please, call me Gina," her mouth pulled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "and there is actually something I needed..."

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Gina seemed to mull something over in her head before answering,

"Is there any way you can ring for a taxi at this hour?" Emily hesitated, she hadn't been expecting that question.

"I think it can be arranged. Where will you and your daughter be going?" Gina looked up at her with nothing but sadness in her eyes.

"My daughter won't be joining me." Her eyes were filled with tears - Emily could feel the pain of the broken woman standing in front of her. Without thinking she strode across the room and took hold of her hand. Gina looked away but her hand remained firmly in Emily's. "If she leaves here, I'll have lost her forever."

* * *

All the taxis in Peacham were either out of commission or the drivers refused to get out of their beds and drive almost an hour to the nearest train station. After several phone calls, Emily finally managed to get a driver from the next town over – which was almost a half-hour away. All in all, the taxi took almost two hours to arrive. In the mean time Emily and Gina had enjoyed each other's company.

Emily learned that Naomi was some kind of socialite back home in England. Gina had been sick with worry for the past year or so when her partying seemed to have gotten out of hand.

"The last straw was just a few days ago. I walked past a kiosk on the street that was selling gossip magazines among other things, when I saw my daughter on the cover. She was passed out in the back of a car and there was a man in the back seat with her. He had his arm around her waist, it looked like he was taking care of her, but the look in his eyes betrayed him. I wanted to strangle the little devil." Gina's voice had gotten louder as she spoke, she must have realized this because she took a few moments to compose herself before speaking again. "Perhaps he took advantage of Naomi, perhaps not, I doubt she knows either way." She sighed tiredly, "I know there isn't anything I can do to change what happened that night, or any other night for that matter, but I can take steps to change the future - and that's what I'm doing right now."

Gina had been adamant about not telling Emily where exactly she would be going.

"My daughter can be quite persuasive, believe me." Emily took her word for it. "I promise I'll be back, I just think she needs some time to herself in order for this whole trip to be effective." Gina left the hotel indefinitely at 1 in the morning.

* * *

Naomi had run out of the hotel at dawn, and 6 hours later she had yet to return. Emily was pacing back and forth in the hotel's living room. _Where is she? I hope she didn't get lost. The poor girl must be starving. Crap. _

"Everything o.k?" Emily almost jumped out of her shoes.

"Oh my God! Why is everyone lurking around this house lately? It's common decency not to sneak up on people, you know." She turned around to look into the pained eyes of her best friend, Tim. He was 6"2, had wavy blonde hair that brushed his forehead, and blue eyes that usually sparkled. He had offered to be a sort of concierge when the responsibility of running the hotel had fallen into Emily's lap.

They met through Emily's twin sister, Katie, who'd had a crush on Tim when they were 10. One day Katie had invited him over to their house for a 'play date', but it was obvious she had hidden motives when she cornered him in the pantry and attacked him with her lips. Sadly but not surprisingly, things didn't work out between the two. Much to Katie's dismay however, he and Emily had become friends not long after the pantry incident. 3 years her senior, he had eventually become like an older brother of sorts in addition to her best friend.

"Crap, I'm sorry Timmy. I'm just freaking out a bit." The pain in his eyes receded as worry crept into them.

"What's wrong Em?"

"There's this girl that checked in last night and this morning she found out her mother has pretty much left her here to fend for herself." Tim nodded in mock understanding. "It's a long story. Anyway, she ran out the door this morning at dawn and isn't back yet. I'm starting to get really worried. She's from a city so she's really had no experience with nature at all - she's used to cement and street signs, and we don't have either here." Tim looked at her for a long moment. Emily thought she noted a hint of amusement in his eyes but she wasn't sure.

"Well Emmy-O, I'm no genius, but I say you go look for her."

"But I can't! What if one of the guests –"

"Don't worry. I'll hold things down here until you get back. You need a day off anyway, it's not healthy for an 18 year-old girl to be cooped up in a house all day." Emily smiled.

"Timbo, you are the best." She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Woa there kiddo, don't hurt yourself." Emily pulled back and playfully punched him in the stomach. He feigned pain so poorly that she had to laugh.

.

.

* * *

**So what do you guys think so far? I'm not quite feeling this chapter, but I thought it was necessary to show a bit of background on some of the characters and relationships before jumping into anything.**

** I realize it's moving along a bit slowly, but I promise there will be some Naomily in the next chapter :) **


	5. Chapter 5

Emily stepped out onto the front steps with a lunch bag in hand and looked around. Surrounding the hotel were acres and acres of uninhabited land that consisted of rolling hills of forest, several bodies of water, and wild animals. She took a deep breath to try to abate the panic that was slowly seeping into her veins. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the sun, enjoying the feeling of it on her skin. _If I had just found out my mother had abandoned me at a hotel in an unknown country, where would I go? _She slowly opened her eyes. _I might as well start at my favorite place._

Emily had to walk about a half-mile to reach the lake. She stepped up to the edge of the water and took in the beauty of it. _18 years and it still takes my breath away. _She was snapped out of her reverie when something in her peripheral vision caught her eye. Sitting there on the dock where Emily had spent countless hours of her life was none other than Naomi Campbell herself. The redhead let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding as she began to make her way over to the girl.

As she approached she got a clearer picture of what was to come. Naomi had taken her shoes off, rolled up her pants, and had her feet dangling over the edge of the dock with the tips of her toes occasionally touching the water. She was leaning back on her hands with her head tilted up towards the sun. Emily couldn't help but think of how beautiful she looked. _She doesn't look too broken up either, which is probably a good sign for my health. _She must have made some noise because Emily suddenly realized that she was now staring into a pair of strikingly blue eyes.

"Jesus. You just scared the shit out of me." Emily took a few seconds to reply, the blue eyes looking up at her had thrown her for a loop.

"Seems to be happening a lot lately. Here," Emily held up the lunch bag in her hand, "I thought you might be hungry." Naomi's eyes flickered down to her hands.

"Thank God, I'm fucking starving." Emily suddenly felt awkward. She had expected Naomi to stand up and take the bag from her, but the girl had turned her attention back to the lake. After what seemed like an eternity Naomi turned back around. "Well? Are you going to just stand there all day or will you join me?"

"Uh…yea, I mean…I'll join you." She sat down next to Naomi and dangled her legs over the side. Being several inches shorter than the blonde, Emily didn't have to worry about her shoes getting wet. She opened the bag and took out a sandwich and a juice box. Naomi scoffed as she picked up the drink.

"Jesus, I haven't seen one of these in ages. It's probably attributed to the fact that I'm not 5 years old anymore." Emily reached up at took the juice box out of her hand.

"Who said this was for you? I'm hungry too, you know." She watched out of the side of her eye as Naomi's eyes widened in disbelief. _Two can play this game,_ she thought to herself as she tried to hold back a smile. When Naomi had recovered from the snub, she picked up the brown bag and cautiously looked inside. Emily saw her smile as she pulled out an identical sandwich and juice box.

"Touché," was all that the blonde had to say.

* * *

The two girls ate in a comfortable silence as they contemplated their surroundings. When they finished eating, Emily was the first to break the silence.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Naomi stole a glance at the petite girl sitting next to her. Her glowing red hair danced as a soft breeze stole through it. She quickly turned her attention back out towards the lake.

"I should be the one apologizing. Just because my mum is a massive cunt doesn't mean I can take it out on the people around me." Naomi saw Emily turn her head to look at her - she could feel the redhead's dark eyes scanning her face. Naomi's heart began to speed up under the scrutiny. _Why is she looking at me?_ _God damn it Naomi, don't let this girl make you squirm. _Naomi snapped her head in the redhead's direction.

"What are you looking at?" She practically spat the words out but Emily remained unperturbed by her feeble attempt at intimidation.

"Nothing." The brown eyes remained fixed on her. Naomi could feel herself becoming more and more uncomfortable under the penetrating gaze, it was like the girl sitting next to her could see through her and she didn't like it.

"Then why the fuck are you looking at me?" The redhead smiled kindly.

"No reason. You're just…interesting, that's all." Naomi scowled at the girl.

"Well, I'm not some fucking goldfish that you can just stare at, so I'd appreciate it if you'd back the fuck away from my tank." Naomi could feel the heat begin to leave her face as Emily turned her focus on the brown paper bag that had held their lunch. The redhead was still smiling as she collected their garbage and put it in the bag.

"What's so fucking funny?" Emily shook her head, the smile never leaving her face.

"Nothing. Listen, I have to get back to the hotel. Do you know your way back?" Naomi was glaring at the girl.

"I got here by myself didn't I? Don't you think I'd know how to get back too?"

"Of course," Emily said kindly, "I'm just making sure is all." She got to her feet and yawned while she raised her hands over her head to stretch her back. Her olive green tank top lifted to show her flat stomach as her hair tumbled down her back. Naomi couldn't find the strength to pry her eyes away. "This was nice, maybe we'll do it again sometime." Without so much as another glance, the redhead began to make her way down the long dock. Naomi had to sit on her hands to stop them from shaking. _For_ _fuck's sake mum, look at what you're doing to me._

_

* * *

_

Later that night after Naomi had found her way back to the hotel and into her room, the reality of her situation began to hit her. _The only person in the world who loves me unconditionally thinks I'm so fucked up that she felt the only thing left to do was leave me here. _Naomi was sitting in the chair that she had put next to the window the night before. She was hugging her knees against her chest and was watching the sun set. _I can't possibly be that horrid can I? _Tears began form in her eyes as she slowly began to see how bad things had gotten. She watched as the final rays of sunshine that were seeping through the trees slowly faded, leaving a grey and lifeless world in its path. The blonde let her head fall onto her knees as a heaviness wrapped itself around her heart and the tears of realization began to roll down her cheeks. _What have I become? _


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everybody, I just wanted thank all of you for reading, alerting, and reviewing. I've pretty much introduced all the characters, so now the plot can really unfold. I hope you continue to read and enjoy it! :)**

**

* * *

**

When Naomi woke up she had no idea what time it was. She remembered making her way over to her bed after she'd been crying for so long that her chest began to hurt. She had crawled onto the bed and held her pillow to her chest to try to make the pain stop. At some point exhaustion had taken a precedent to emotion, and she had fallen asleep.

Naomi sat up in her bed and looked around. The room was completely dark. She began to shiver as a chill set into her as she was about to get under the covers, a faint noise captured her attention. She looked towards her bedroom door. _What the hell is that?_ The blonde slowly made her way over to the door and cracked it open. Light from downstairs was flooding the hallway. Naomi took a few tentative steps towards the stairs. As she got closer the noise she'd heard grew louder, making it obvious that is was the sound of music. She quietly tried to make her way down the wooden stairs to get a better listen, but no matter where she stepped they creaked loudly under her feet. _Fuck's sake - shut up!_

When she finally reached the ground floor she stood listening silently for a few seconds. The music continued, unperturbed by the noise she'd made. From her place at the bottom of the steps it became clear that someone was playing a guitar. She followed the sound until she reached a room that that was back to back with the kitchen. She hadn't even known it existed, but as she looked in from the shadows of the hallway, it immediately became her new favorite room.

Sitting on a chair next to a piano was Emily playing the guitar she'd heard from upstairs. The redhead was strumming a simple tune and humming along quietly. Her hair had fallen over her shoulder creating a curtain that covered her face. Naomi had to resist the urge to step into the room and brush it aside so she could get a better look at her expression as she played. The song she was playing was slow, and the melody her husky voice was humming gave the song a melancholic feel. Naomi could feel tears forming in her eyes despite herself. _Bloody hell Naomi, how can you possibly have any tears left in you after today? _When Emily finished the song, the blonde took a deep breath and stepped into the light of the room.

"That was beautiful." Emily's head snapped up. Her eyes were dark with surprise and a twinge of something else Naomi couldn't quite place. The blonde took a small step back towards shadows. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Emily's eyes remained fixed on hers. Her expression was so open, so _honest_ that Naomi had a hard time holding her gaze. The redhead put her out of her misery when she sighed and looked back down at her guitar.

"Thanks," Emily whispered throatily, "I didn't think anyone was listening." Naomi stood at the perimeter of the room for a few awkward moments before taking a decisive step towards Emily.

"What were you playing?" Emily's eye remained fixed on her guitar.

"Oh nothing really, just messing around with some ideas." _Liar._

"It sounded wonderful." The redhead's dark eyes looked up at Naomi. _Wow, she looks…sad. _"You alright?" Emily's brow creased as the sadness seemed to turn into pain before she looked back down at her guitar.

"Yea, I'm fine. Are you hungry? Have you eaten since I brought you lunch?" Naomi was surprised by the abrupt change in subject.

"Er…no. I mean, I haven't eaten but I'm not hungry either."

"Come on." In a flash Emily had put her guitar on its stand and grabbed Naomi's hand. The blonde was vaguely aware that she was being pulled toward the kitchen – Emily's hand in hers had captured her full attention.

* * *

"So why are you still awake?" Naomi was sitting at the kitchen table looking at the flickering light of the candle she'd lit as Emily was making them a midnight snack. The redhead said that she found the candlelight more comforting. Naomi thought it was nonsense at first but after seeing the way large windows of the kitchen reflected the light of the candle and made the room glow, she found that she quite had to agree.

"I don't know. I know it sounds weird, but I kind of like being in the house at night when there isn't anybody up and about, it's peaceful." Emily placed a large bowl on the table and sat down across from Naomi.

"You like being alone then?" Naomi picked up the fork the Emily had placed in front of her and speared a piece of fruit covered in yogurt.

"Definitely. When I was little my parents thought I was autistic because I seemed to enjoy being alone more than interacting with people," she put a piece of fruit in her mouth before finishing her sentence, "my whole family is extremely social and people-oriented, so they really had no idea what to do with me."

"Huh. I think my mum would love you. She can't understand my need to socialize constantly." Emily smiled warmly at her from across the table, the candlelight making her brown eyes glow.

"It's good to have a nice balance in the world, isn't it?"

"Howdyu mean?" Naomi could feel her insides warming up as the girl across the table spoke.

"Well, if we were all as social as you, I think we would all be so sick and tired of each other in a few weeks that we'd end up strangling one another," Emily gave Naomi a mischievous wink, "and if we were all loners like I am, we would be one hell of a boring bunch." Naomi was trying not to smile as she feigned outrage and said,

"Miss Emily! Shame on you for using that kind of language!" The redhead hadn't seen Naomi's face when she'd spoken and took her comment seriously.

"Are you freaking kidding me? What about you?" Emily looked up and saw that Naomi was grinning from ear, "Oh. You are kidding." They both began to laugh uncontrollably - it was the kind of laughter that seems to bubble up from a place deep inside and is impossible to stop once it starts flowing. Whenever the laughter seemed like it was coming to an end, some little motion or noise would set them off again. Needless to say, within minutes they were both on the ground next to the table gripping their sides as the constrictions of laughter were becoming painful. Finally their laughter began to die down to giggles.

Naomi put her hand on Emily's shoulder as she tried to catch her breath.

"Bloody hell Ems, you'll be the end of me, I just know it." Emily's twinkling brown eyes were looking into her own - Naomi was glad that the sadness she'd seen in them earlier was gone. Her side swept bangs had fallen into her shining eyes and for the second time that night Naomi had to resist the urge to brush them aside. Emily looked radiant as the warm glow of the candlelight intensified the color of her scarlet hair.

She couldn't pinpoint when exactly it happened, but she suddenly realized the mood had shifted. Naomi became acutely aware of her hand on Emily's shoulder, and the redhead's darkened eyes showed that she had noticed the change as well. Naomi remained frozen in place as the redhead leaned ever so slightly closer to her. Her eyes flickered down to Emily's lips despite herself. Time seemed to stop as the world around her faded into oblivion – she felt herself being drawn in as Emily ran her tongue along her bottom lip.

"Em?" The deep voice snapped Naomi out of her trance. In an instant Emily was on her feet facing the entrance of the kitchen on the opposite end of the room.

"Hi Tim." Naomi could hear footsteps coming closer.

"Um. What are you doing? I heard some noise and came down to see what was up." Emily fidgeted nervously before answering.

"I was hungry."

"Yeah, I can see that, but unless you were butchering a live animal, I don't see why you had to make so much noise. You know, this isn't just your house anymore. You have to remember to be conscious of everything you do because one of the guests might-"

"I know Tim," Emily cut him off, "please, don't remind me." Naomi suddenly felt like an intruder who was eavesdropping on a private conversation. Her face begin to burn in embarrassment. She made a move to get up to show herself to Tim who was now standing just on the other side of the table, but she felt Emily's leg nudge her. Naomi looked up at Emily's face to try to see what she wanted her to do, but the redhead was staring straight ahead, challenging Tim with her eyes. _Wow. I hope I never do anything to deserve that look from her. _After a long, tension-filled silence, Naomi finally heard a sigh.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Of course you know - how could you forget? It's just that so much has changed in these past few years, Em. I really worry about you sometimes."

"Well, you don't have to."

"I know. You've more than proved that you can take care of yourself," Emily looked like she was about to say something but Tim kept talking, "it's just that you've been so strong through this whole thing, I'm always half expecting you to just let it all out and lose your shit one day."

"Tim..."

"It's totally fine if you do by the way, I just want to be here for you if or when it ever happens." Emily's squared shoulders finally seemed to lose their rigidity.

"Thanks Timmy." Emily walked to the other side of the table, and although Naomi couldn't see her, she was pretty sure Emily was hugging the man who'd spoken to her. "I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if it weren't for you - I know I don't tell you that enough."

"Relax babe, I wouldn't be doing too well without you either."

* * *

After Tim said his goodnights, Emily took a few seconds to compose herself before returning to the other side of the table. She crouched down to get a better look at Naomi.

"Hi." The blonde's eyes were wide as she looked up.

"Hi." Emily stood up and held out a hand to help Naomi up, but she ignored it and got to her feet by herself. Naomi was looking down at her hands as she began to speak.

"Listen…" Emily already knew what was coming, "Emily, I'm not…" There was an awkward silence following her words.

"You're not…?" Emily couldn't help herself; it was oddly amusing to see the blonde beat around the bush so to speak.

"I'm not….you know…" Naomi was now looking into Emily's eyes with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. Emily still pretended to no know what she was getting at.

"I don't fancy girls." Ah, there it was. Emily widened her eyes in mock surprise.

"And you think I do?" Naomi obviously hadn't been expecting that answer because she sputtered about for a few seconds before closing her mouth and taking a long look at Emily.

"Well, earlier you…and…I mean…don't you?" Emily finally let the smile she'd been holding in break across her face.

"Yeah, I 'fancy' girls occasionally," she said throwing up air quotations to try to get the blonde to smile, but Naomi's eyes were still wide. She sighed resignedly.

"Don't worry Naomi, I got the message." Emily leaned in closer to Naomi's ear, "You're not really my type anyway, so you should be safe." With that she turned around and walked out of the kitchen with a huge grin on her face, knowing full well that her last comment would really throw the blonde for a loop.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks so much to those of you who are reading and those who are reviewing. Whenever I read one I can't help but smile like an idiot :) **

**I was originally going to split this chapter into two separate ones, but I wanted to give you guys a bit of drama in this one. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Naomi slept horribly that night. She wished she could say it was because she was still upset about the current predicament her mother had left her in, but if she was honest with herself she knew it was much more than that. The real reason her mind was too busy to allow her to sleep, was the small brown-eyed red-haired girl who was presumably sound asleep somewhere in the hotel.

So far during her short stay Naomi had seen several different sides of Emily. On the dock she initially kept a polite distance, but soon her sense of humor had come out while simultaneously showing Naomi that she wouldn't put up with her bullshit. Naomi had been thrown off by redhead's quiet strength because she'd originally pegged her as rather shy.

Then she had heard her music and had gotten a glimpse at some kind of pain that Emily seemed to keep well hidden during the day. Tim had exacerbated her intrigue when he'd mentioned how much she'd been through in the past few years and how strong she'd been. _What was that all about?_

And of course there was the entire 'kitchen floor event' as she had begun to refer to it as. _What the fuck was that? We definitely almost kissed. _The part she was freaking out the most about was the fact that if their lips had met, she wouldn't have been able to deny that she had leaned in just as much as Emily had.

_Arggh, shut up! _Naomi put her pillow over her face to try to quiet her mind. When breathing became difficult she threw the pillow to the side and began pacing around her room. _Stop it. Nothing happened. You're just making a big deal of things in your head – she even said it herself, you aren't even her type. _Naomi stopped short. _Why the hell am I not her type? _She looked down at herself to try to see what the redhead didn't like but stopped herself midway. _What the hell are you doing? Why do you give a shit?_

Naomi stomped her foot in frustration and resumed her pacing.

* * *

Emily woke up at 5:45 am (fifteen minutes before her alarm-clock) feeling refreshed. She got out of her bed and stretched her arms above her head. The sun was just beginning to poke through the trees, and as she'd done almost every morning for years, she walked over to the window and opened it. The crisp morning air rushed into her room making her toes scrunch. She took stuck her head out the window and took a deep breath. The cold air filled her lungs making her wake up quickly. _Works every time. _

She put on a waist-high black pencil skirt and tucked a formfitting long-sleeved button-down into it. It was Monday morning, and she had to get back into work-mode. She slipped on a pair of black flats and pinned her hair up into a bun before taking one last look at herself in the mirror and making her way downstairs to the kitchen.

Tim was usually already up and about when she got downstairs, but she had beaten him to it this morning. She put a pot of water on the stove and began rummaging in the fridge for some breakfast.

"Woah, I see you're a morning person." Emily still had her head in the fridge as she smiled, recognizing the English accent immediately. With her arms full of assorted items she turned around to face Naomi.

"Good morning," she kicked the fridge door closed with her heel and placed the items on the counter, "wow, I see that you…aren't a morning person." Naomi's short hair was sticking out in all directions, and she had dark rings under her eyes. Emily couldn't help but giggle.

"Oh shut up, I heard someone down here and decided to venture out of my room to see if there was any coffee in this bloody hotel." Emily pointed to the kettle on the stove without skipping a beat.

"Coming right up!" She began arranging the items she'd taken out of the fridge.

"What in heaven's name are you going to make?"

"Breakfast." Naomi scoffed.

"I can see that," she said in a very 'duh' fashion, "but it's 6 o'clock in the morning. You can't possibly be hungry enough eat all that." Emily stopped and smiled at the grumpy girl sitting in front of her. She couldn't help but think about how adorable she looked with her hair all mussed up and that frown on her face. She made sure Naomi was looking at her before she let her face turn to stone.

"Watch me," she said, and resumed her soon-to-be ham, cheese, pepper, mushroom, and onion omelet.

* * *

Naomi watched in amazement at Emily showed off her cooking prowess – the girl really knew what she was doing. She also couldn't help but notice how good Emily looked in her more formal attire. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and her dark red bangs were skimming her eyelashes. _She looks like a completely different person._

Emily's back was facing Naomi as she was frying some onions in a pan and humming quietly to herself. Naomi couldn't help but let her eyes wander down to her backside as she cooked.

"Morning Emmy-O." Naomi's eyes snapped in the direction of the voice guiltily.

"Timmy!" She watched as Emily scurried over to Tim, spatula still in hand, to give him a side-hug. He gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before turning to Naomi.

"I see we have company already," He walked up to Naomi with an outstretched hand, "Good morning. I'm Tim." It was then that Naomi realized just how attractive he was. He was well over 6 feet tall with broad shoulders and twinkling blue eyes. He was wearing a light blue dress shirt and white pants that complimented his well-combed wavy blonde hair.

"Naomi. Pleasure," she mumbled as she quickly shook his outstretched hand before averting her eyes.

If Tim noticed Naomi's awkward introduction, he did a good job of hiding it as he moved in next to Emily and took the kettle off the stove. He grabbed three cups off of a shelf and began pouring the boiling water into them with his right hand as his left hand hovered protectively over Emily's lower back.

"Careful Em, I'm pouring hot water." Emily turned toward Tim with a hand on her hip and swatted him playfully on the arm with the spatula.

"I'm 18 now you know, I think I can handle being in close proximity to a tea kettle without making a mess of things." Tim nudged her with his hip,

"Better safe than sorry." Emily stuck her tongue out at him before turning her attention back to her omelet.

Naomi continued to watch in fascination as the two effortlessly moved around each other in the kitchen. _If I didn't know any better, I'd think they were a couple. _She narrowed her eyes as a thought occurred to her. _Maybe that's why Emily didn't want Tim to see that I was in the kitchen with her last night. She would certainly have a hard time explaining why she was on the ground in the dark with a guest in the middle of the night – _

Naomi was snapped out of her reverie when she realized Tim's twinkling eyes were looking at her questioningly.

"Did you say something?" Tim smiled at her and repeated himself,

"Do you want coffee or tea?" Naomi scowled at him.

"Are you shitting me?" Tim's smile faltered as pain crept into his eyes. _Damn it Naomi, don't do this, you're trying to turn over a new leaf, remember? _Luckily, Emily swooped in to save their conversation-gone-awry.

"Naomi here isn't a morning person," she pushed a jar of coffee across the counter towards Tim as she winked at him, "that usually implies that she's a coffee drinker." Tim's pained expression dissolved at her words. He grabbed the jar off the counter, opened it, and stuck a spoon into it. He paused, seemingly debating something in his mind before turning to Naomi and placing both the jar and the hot cup of water in front of her.

"I think I'd better let you make it how you like it." Naomi avoided eye contact with him, ashamed at her previous rudeness.

"Thanks," she mumbled, "and sorry."

"Not a problem," he said as he turned his attention back to the two cups on the counter behind him.

* * *

Naomi barely got a glimpse of Emily in the next few days, further intensifying her frustration. The little redhead was always buzzing about answering phone calls, dealing with guests, or making sure everything was running smoothly – that pretty much left Naomi with countless hours of mulling over all her unanswered questions obsessively.

Eventually, the toxic mix of frustration and boredom had inspired Naomi to poke around the living quarters of the hotel. She wandered aimlessly around the top floors of the hotel and realized it was bigger than she first thought. After speaking with Maria, a cleaning lady from Peru, she found out that the hotel had 5 floors and 15 rooms. The bottom floor was home to the kitchen, living room, several miscellaneous entertainment rooms, and the reception. The top floor wasn't insulated and therefore used as an attic – it was also where 'Miss Fitch' slept. _Cha-ching._

The guests were mainly wealthy businessmen who treated the hotel as a retreat of sorts, but Maria had enthusiastically told her that many famous faces had graced the rooms of the hotel as well. They apparently loved getting away to a place where nobody knew or cared who they were.

"Miss Fitch is very known in the famous community," Maria had whispered in broken English, showing that what she was saying was confidential, "they love that she leave them be."

Naomi thought about her words several times over the next few days. _Does Emily know who I am back in England? She certainly acts like she doesn't. _Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a thundering voice coming from the reception. She instinctively abandoned the sandwich she was eating in the kitchen and headed towards the direction of the voice.

"This is bullshit!" There was a middle-aged man in a suit and tie pacing around the room. He abruptly stopped and ran his hands through his thinning slicked-back black hair before turning to a stoic Emily and bellowing,

"How am I supposed to catch my fucking plane on time if you can't even get me a god-damned taxi?"

"Mr. Rivers, If you would please just-" Naomi watched in horror as the man strode across the room and stuck his face within inches of Emily's. He lifted his finger within centimeters of her cheek and through clenched teeth hissed,

"Don't you dare ask me to calm down, you little bitch." She saw that Emily's cheeks were flushed with what she presumed was anger as she felt her own do the same. _Why isn't she telling the twat to fuck off? _

The man straightened his posture and looked down at Emily – his looming frame making the petite redhead seem even smaller than she was.

"I hope you know this means I want a refund." Emily's dark brown eyes looked up at him defiantly for a tense few seconds before breaking contact and muttering a defeated,

"Of course." The man's mouth stretched into a triumphant smile.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

After the worst of the fight was over, Naomi realized it was rather inappropriate for her to be standing at the entrance of the room watching Emily deal with the grotty asshole so she decided to go back to the kitchen and finish her lunch. When 45 minutes had passed she began to get restless. Emily usually flitted in and out of the kitchen several times an hour, but Naomi had yet to see or hear her. She got up and made her way over to the reception but was disappointed to find only Tim checking in a young couple. She caught his eye and he beckoned her over.

"Whatsup Naomi?" he asked as he typed away on the computer. She could tell the young couple was wondering who she was and why she was allowed to cut in line so she decided to cut to the chase.

"Where's Emily?" Tim's fingers paused momentarily over the keys before they resumed their typing.

"She needed a minute."

"It's been almost an hour." His blue eyes flickered from the computer screen to hers quickly and then back again.

"She usually goes down to the lake when she needs some time to herself." Naomi was already walking towards the door when she heard him call her name.

"Naomi," the concern in his voice made her turn to look at him, "go easy on her, she's had a rough day." Naomi rolled her eyes at him and mouthed a quick 'thank you' before turning to leave again.

.

.

* * *

**Many questions will be answered in the next chapter, I promise! **


	8. Chapter 8

**I think this is going to be my last chapter for a little while. I'm applying to a few colleges (applications are due on the 15th) and I really need to focus on getting all my essays done instead of writing about Naomily antics o:) **

**Thanks again to all those who are still reading, and those who have reviewed - it really means a lot. **

**I hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

It took Naomi almost half an hour to get down to the lake. Because it was mid-September the leaves were beginning to fall off the trees, making walking on dirt paths slightly challenging. She rolled her ankles several times on stray rocks camouflaged under fallen leaves during her treacherous trek, but the pain was immediately forgotten when she saw little Emily Fitch sitting alone on the end of the dock.

As Naomi approached the redhead, she felt a chilly breeze steal through her zip-up sweater. Autumn had definitely arrived.

"Miss Fitch," Naomi took a seat next to a startled Emily, "we have got to stop meeting like this." When she heard no response, Naomi looked over at the redhead sitting beside her – her heart sinking as she saw Emily turn her face away. Naomi could tell that she was trying to hide her tears as she rubbed at her cheeks.

"You alright, Em?" Naomi put her hand on the redhead's shoulder and realized she was shivering. "Jesus Christ, you're fucking freezing." She quickly shrugged out of her sweater and tried to drape it across Emily's shoulders, but the redhead flinched away.

"No. I'm fine."

"Listen, I don't know what your definition of fine is, but mine certainly isn't sitting on a dock and shivering like a fucking chihuahua so could you just please do me a favor and put it on?" Emily hesitated but finally acquiesced as she slipped her hands into the oversize sweater. Her face was still turned away as she mumbled a quick 'thanks'.

Naomi felt a pang of tenderness tug at her heart as she studied the profile of the little redhead sitting next to her. Other than the tears she could see streaming down her face, Emily gave no other indication that she was crying. She wasn't sniveling or sniffling. Actually, her face was devoid of any emotion at all. She was just stoically looking out at the water, occasionally wiping away a stray tear. A tightness seized Naomi's chest upon seeing Emily silently endure whatever pain she was feeling. The quiet strength of the redhead sitting beside her was heartbreakingly beautiful.

After a few minutes of awkwardly tense silence, Naomi finally sighed heavily.

"Any chance you've got a fag on you?" She saw Emily stiffen at her words. _Oh no, what did I do wrong?_

"Naomi," her voice was hoarse as she spoke, "I'm only saying this because you're not from here, but in America we prefer to refer to them as gays or homosexuals." Naomi looked at Emily for a long minute to make sure she was being serious. Then she burst out laughing.

"What?" Emily was obviously taken aback by Naomi's outburst, "I'm just trying to let you know what's politically correct."

Her red and puffy eyes were now focused intently on Naomi. There was such a look of sincerity on her tear-streaked face that Naomi momentarily felt guilty. Then she thought about the ridiculousness of the situation and another round of laughter erupted from inside of her.

Emily had crossed her arms across her chest and was now frowning at the blonde before her angrily. Between bouts of laughter Naomi managed to squeeze out that in England a fag was just another word for a cigarette. She watched through teary eyes as Emily tried to fight the smirk that was pulling at her lips.

"Jesus Nai, don't you know that smoking kills?" A whole new kind of giddiness filled Naomi's heart upon hearing the shortened version of her name. _Ugh, you're such a dork. _Then she heard Emily let out a small chuckle and her heart soared - she didn't give a shit if she was a dork, watching as a smile broke through Emily's tears made it more than worth it.

By the time their laughter died down to giggles, the awkward tension between them was completely gone. Naomi looked into Emily's red-rimmed eyes. _It's now or never._

"Why'd you let that guy talk to you like that, Ems?" The last of Emily's sniggering caught in her throat as she looked down at her hands guiltily. Her husky voice was considerably quieter when she spoke,

"I don't really have a choice when it comes to the guests." Naomi snorted.

"Of course you do! You should let the owner of the hotel deal with assholes like him. An employee can't be held responsible for that kind of harassment." Emily looked up at her.

"Naomi…" Her big brown eyes were laced with confusion, "I am the owner." _The fuck?_

"How is that possible? You're only 18!" Emily looked down at her hands again.

"Life's funny like that sometimes."

"Okay…well, that still doesn't explain why you couldn't toss the twat out of _your_ hotel right on his arse."

"It's not like I didn't want to, it's just…" Emily's voice trailed off, "You don't understand." Naomi replayed the image of the man towering over Emily in the reception. She could feel the anger and frustration bubbling up inside of her again.

"Enlighten me," she challenged. Emily took a tired breath before answering.

"He's very well known in many circles of the wealthy businessmen who predominantly stay at the hotel. If he badmouths me, as I'm sure he would love to do, I could lose a considerable chunk of my clientele -"

"Why do you care?" Naomi interrupted.

"Net income would drop considerably if the majority of my clients stopped coming." Naomi shook her head.

"That's not what I meant," Naomi let out a frustrated sigh, "I mean why does an 18-year-old girl care about things like net income in the first place? Don't your parents support you financially?"

Emily's eyes were glued to her hands again as a tense silence enveloped them. Naomi was about to press further when she saw a single tear roll down the redhead's cheek. Her husky voice cracked considerably as she uttered,

"My parents are dead."

_Shit._

_._

_._

_

* * *

_**So. What do you guys think?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Karma is a bitch. Here I was being all coy after the last chapter and leaving you all on a cliff-hanger. Little did I know that some sort of writing ninja was about to come and hijack my brain. I honestly couldn't think of anything other than Naomily after I uploaded the last chapter. Needless to say, my college apps have yet to be submitted. **

**Anyway, here is the result of me sabotaging my future. **

**I hope you enjoy it!**

**

* * *

**

_Shit._

_Shit._

_Shit. _

_Say something. _

_Fuck._

_Not that!_

_Shit._

_Shit._

_Do something, Naomi. Anything._

"How did they die?" _You're a fucking idiot. You can't just ask someone how their parents died, it's –_

"Car crash."

"When?" _Fuuuck. Word vomit._

"Two years ago," she could see that Emily was clenching her jaw in an attempt to hold back the tears, "it happened right after I finished my sophomore year in high school." Naomi's internal dialogue ceased abruptly as she imagined what Emily must have had to go through. She felt her eyes well up with tears.

"Em, I'm so sorry." She scooted herself closer to Emily and put her arm around the shrunken girl's shoulder. Naomi had never been good at comforting people, but at that moment it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Emily muttered.

"Do what?" She felt redhead take a shaky breath.

"Pity me." Naomi turned her head to look at Emily. She was still staring stoically out at the water.

"It's not pity, Ems. I just truly am sorry," Naomi paused for a second, "from the bottom of my heart." The redhead turned and looked at her then – brown eyes searching her own blue ones. Naomi felt naked under the scrutiny but she tried to keep it out of her eyes. Showing the redhead that she'd meant what she said was more important than her own comfort.

After what seemed like an eternity, Emily's hardened face suddenly crumbled before her very eyes. Naomi felt an acute pain in her chest as Emily let out a sob. Acting on instinct, she encircled the redhead with her long arms and pulled her close.

"I hate crying," Emily breathed into her shoulder.

"S'okay, I won't tell anyone."

* * *

The two girls stayed like that on the dock for the rest of the afternoon. Emily mostly cried while Naomi mumbled comforting words in her ear. She held the redhead until the sobs that were shaking her body abated. When her tears had dried up, Emily shifted out of Naomi's arms and began to tell her the story of how the hotel had come into her possession.

_It all started at a hotel. That's where my parents met. After graduating college my dad, Rob, was hired by a prestigious hotel to work as their fitness expert. Because the hotel was a chain, it wasn't unusual for my dad to be sent to work at several different locations every year. He was earning more money than he ever would've dreamed of as a personal trainer, so he wasn't exactly in the position to complain. He was traveling all over the country getting paid to do what he loved. He was living the life._

_Everything changed when he met my mom, Jenna. She was still in college and had managed to land a job as a receptionist at one of the chain's hotels in Boston. Although she came from a wealthy family, she and mother had had more than their fair share of disagreements. The result was that she had been cut off and was now scrambling around to try to pay for her college education on her own. When the dashingly handsome Rob Fitch laid his eyes on the vulnerable Jenna Delaney, sparks were destined to fly._

_And fly they did. My sister Katie and I were the result of three bottles of Veuve Clicquot and Rob Fitch's dazzling smile. When my mom found out she was pregnant she ran down to the hotel's gym and knocked my dad's lights out. He always told me that the moment he came to and saw Jenna Delaney standing over him with a mixture of worry and fury on her face, he knew he would love her forever. _

_They got married at a shotgun wedding and moved up to Vermont where they bought an inexpensive house not far from here. Things got tough when my sister and I arrived. They were both working like dogs in any jobs they could find while trying to juggle marriage and kids._

_After a few years things calmed down a bit. The Fitch Family had a good amount of money saved up, my sister and I were a year away from going to kindergarten, and their marriage was on firm ground. It was around that time when my dad heard about an old house across the lake that was newly on the market. The previous owner, a cranky old man, had died and left it to his son. The large house was a shambles on the inside. The son wanted nothing to do with it so he put it on the market for a cheap asking price, hoping that somebody would take it off his hands. That somebody turned out to be none other than Rob Fitch himself. _

_It took my parents almost a year and most of their savings to fix up the house, but they managed to get it done. They had bought the house with a dream in mind - they were going to turn the house into a hotel and live comfortably off of its proceeds. Well, on opening night they were so delighted at what they had created, that they broke out a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to celebrate. And yup, you guessed it, my little brother James was the result of the celebration. You'd think they would've learned the first time around…_

_Anyway, James, Katie, and I practically grew up at the hotel. We spent pretty much every spare moment at the hotel helping out any way we could, even if it meant coming down here to the dock for a few hours to get out of the way. As we got older and presumably more responsible our parents let the three of us go directly home after school. While Katie took full advantage of the lack of adult presence in the household and usually had a guy or two over, I actually kind of missed the hotel. Most days I would walk over here from the other side of the lake, it's about a mile, and I'd do my homework on the dock. Sometimes my dad would even come down from the hotel and join me when he wasn't too busy otherwise. _

_We had a pretty good family dynamic. When we were together we were always bickering, but at the end of the day we were Fitch, and we loved each other. Fate doesn't care too much for love though, I learned that the hard way. When the stars all align, whatever is meant to happen will happen, no matter what. _

_My dad's car had been making an odd noise whenever he went more than 25 miles per hour, so he decided to play it safe and bring it in for a tune-up. The mechanic practically took the engine apart in search of whatever was causing the noise, but he couldn't for the life of him figure it out. He regretfully handed the car back over to my dad and apologized for not being able to help. From there, my dad swung by the hotel to pick my mom up and the two headed home like they had countless times before. _

_A police officer later confirmed that the mechanic who had taken a look at my dad's car had forgotten to tighten the bolt on one of the pistons that he'd taken apart. As a result, it shot out of the engine and through the hood when the car reached about 50 miles per hour. My dad must have been startled because he swerved off the road and hit a tree. The autopsy report later confirmed that the two had died on impact._

_The next few months were a living hell. I was absolutely inconsolable. I simply could not stop crying. Katie and James were of course grieving as well, but I was just on a different level. I couldn't function. I stopped eating, I stopped sleeping, I stopped, well…everything. All I did was lie in my bed and cry. I was so miserable. Around three months after my parents died my brother and sister really started to worry. They were in pain, but they were still functioning – I was just lying in my room wasting away._

_Katie came up to my room one day and told me that I had to snap out of it. She said I was being a 'fucking drama queen', and that I should 'quit my blubbering'. At first I was shocked by her bluntness. Yes, she had been unnecessarily harsh, but after a few days I realized that she was right. I wasn't doing anybody any good by crying myself almost to death. So, I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off, and get on with life. _

_When school started back up a few weeks later, I had already formulated a plan. I was going to scrounge up enough credits to graduate early, and then I was going to take over the management of the hotel so that my siblings and I could keep living a comfortable life financially. I threw myself into my schoolwork and ended up graduating in 6 months, and then from there I threw myself into running the hotel. _

_Understandably though, things at home just weren't the same. I didn't help the situation at all either, I avoided our house as much as possible. It was too painful. Most nights I slept in the hotel's attic on an old cot I'd found, but I still felt horrible for abandoning my siblings. I tried, I really tried to spend time with them, but everything about them reminded me of my parents. By the time I was finally healed enough to be around them, I felt so guilty about how I'd abandoned them when they needed me that I never reached out. _

_Katie went away to college this year, and we sent James to some prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire. I stayed here so I could make sure the hotel is successful. I may have abandoned Katie and James when they needed me the most, but I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to them if I have to. Right now that means providing them with enough money to allow them to live comfortably._

_

* * *

_

It was almost dark out by the time Emily had finished recounting her experiences in the past few years. The breeze coming in from the lake was now nipping at the both of them. Emily silently got to her feet and held her hand out to Naomi. The blonde looked up at her questioningly but accepted the help without a word. Naomi hung her arm over Emily's shoulder as they walked down the dock towards land.

When they got back to the hotel it was almost pitch black outside. The walk through the darkness had been perilous, but with each girl helping the other they had made it safely.

Naomi pushed the doors of the front entrance open and stepped inside. She saw Tim sitting on the stairs with his head in his hands. When he looked up a look of relief quickly spread over his face.

"Thank fuck! Where the hell have you two been? You had me worried sick!" He stopped his chiding abruptly when his eyes fell on Emily as she stepped through the door.

"Em?" He practically ran over to her. Naomi turned around and realized why he had reacted so strongly. Emily looked absolutely exhausted. She had deep rings under her eyes and they were already closing. Tim draped her arm around his neck to support her weight.

"What happened?" He whispered to Naomi as she draped Emily's other hand around her own neck.

"She told me about her parents." A knowing look spread across his face.

"Come on, let's get her up to bed."

Emily had pretty much fallen asleep in their arms by the time they got to the first floor. Her head had rolled forward and her legs weren't moving at all anymore.

"Bloody hell, for being so small, this girl is fucking heavy," Naomi said as she tried to catch her breath. Tim chuckled softly as he swooped Emily up into his arms.

"There's no way we're making it up three more floors with this little red dead-weight on our hands. We're putting her in your room tonight." He was already making his way to her room when Naomi finally found her voice.

"W-wait. My room? Why not yours?" Tim stopped in front of her door and looked at Naomi steadily.

"Yours is closer. Plus, Em's pocket sized - she barely takes up any room in the bed," he said as nodded his head towards the doorknob. Naomi hesitantly opened the door. She didn't want Tim to notice she was stalling, but she couldn't help herself.

Tim strode into the room, placed Emily on the right side of Naomi's bed and then turned to her.

"Good luck with that," he said as he strode right back out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Naomi was left standing over the bed looking down at the small redhead who was now curled up on her side and sleeping deeply. _Emily Fitch is in my bed. _She was trying to abate the panic that was slowly working its way into her veins. _I'm going to sleep in the same bed as Emily Fitch tonight. _

Naomi took a deep breath to try to steady herself. _Big fucking deal Naomi, she's asleep. _She hastily changed into her pajamas and paused over the bed again, looking down as Emily itched her nose in her sleep._ She's harmless. _

Naomi pulled the covers out from under Emily's sleeping form. She crawled under them quickly and made sure they were covering the redhead completely before letting her head hit the pillow. She rolled onto her left side, facing Emily. _See? Harmless._ She let her eyes wander over the girl's serene face as she slept. The moonlight was shining off her porcelain skin, making her look like a fucking angel. Naomi was caught by surprise when Emily began to stir in her sleep.

Her small hand reached out and held Naomi's tightly. She muttered something incomprehensible before her breathing evened out again. Naomi's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she looked down at the small hand entwined in her own.

_Fucking harmless._

_._

_._

_

* * *

_**So, what did you think?**

**I'm going to say this cautiously (because we all know how things turned out last time) but I do think this is going to be the last chapter for about a week or so. **

**I hope this one holds you over sufficiently until then! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wooo, my college apps are officially in!**

**Here's another chapter for ya,**

**Hope you enjoy it !**

* * *

She dreamt she was falling. At first she was scared, terrified even, but then she felt something warm in her hand. She couldn't see it so much as she could feel it. Its warmth wrapped its way around her fingers and slowly made its way up her arm. At some point it traversed the surface of her skin, she could feel it inside of her. It spread like wildfire. It heated up her insides, and right as she began to fear that it would to burn her if it got any warmer, it reached her heart. Elation spread through her body. The fear she'd felt suddenly lost its importance. In its place was a lightness that radiated through her core. She'd never been this happy.

Naomi's body woke before her mind did. Her heart thudded to life as she inhaled the scent of something sweet. She was clawing her way out of a deep sleep, and couldn't yet open her eyes.

She could still feel the warmth from her dream enveloping her. She could even feel it gripping her hand. Isn't it curious how dreams can sometimes be so realistic that they carry over into the waking world? She flexed her hand, amazed at how real whatever was gripping it felt. _Wait a minute… _

Naomi's eyes flew open. Right there in the flesh, lying in the same position she had been the night before, with red hair splayed across the white sheets and bangs brushing over her closed eyelids, was none other than Emily Fucking Fitch herself. Naomi's eyes raked over her sleeping form, finally landing on her small hand. It was still holding onto her own tightly, just as it had been the night before.

"Fuck's sake," she mumbled as she disentangled their digits and sat up in the bed. Emily frowned slightly in her sleep at the loss of contact and curled her legs up into her chest.

Naomi got out of the bed as quietly as she could, making sure the mattress didn't dip as she shifted her weight. She stood over the bed and watched Emily in her sleep for a few moments.

Something was bothering Naomi. It took her a second to figure out that the hand that had been holding Emily's now felt exceedingly cold; the warmth she'd felt upon waking up seemed to have dissolved. She sighed heavily as she turned towards the door, sneaking one last glance at the sleeping girl on her bed before exiting the room almost inaudibly.

* * *

Emily's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to bright light of the room. She groaned softly as she stretched her legs out from their cramped position. Her eyes suddenly snapped into focus. _Where the hell am I? _She shot straight up in the bed, looking around searchingly. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up - her body felt heavier than usual. _What happened last night? _

The last thing she remembered was floating through darkness while holding Naomi's hand. _Wait, no. That didn't happen. _She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. _Did it?_ Something on the nightstand next to the bed caught her eye.

It was a picture of Gina Campbell with a young Naomi sitting in her lap -obviously against her will. Gina's restraining hands were wrapped around her daughter's waist as Naomi was futilely trying to wriggle out of her embrace. Emily found herself smiling at the mischievous expression on the young Naomi's face. Then she stiffened. _Wait. I'm in Naomi's room? I slept in her bed? _She looked around the room for any sign of Naomi._ Ok, seriously, what the hell happened last night?_

She quietly opened Naomi's door and poked her head into the hallway. The coast was clear so she stepped out of Naomi's room and quickly made her way up to her own. Once there she stripped off the clothes she'd been wearing since the previous day and began to change into sports clothes. She had just slipped her sports bra over her head when she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

"Late night?" Emily cringed before turning around guiltily to face the voice she knew so well.

"Good morning, Tim." He was standing at the entrance of her room with his arms folded over his chest.

"It is isn't it?" Emily wasn't in the mood for wherever he was trying to go with the conversation.

"Tim, I'm in my bra and underwear, do you mind?" His eyes roamed over her body for a second before landing on her eyes again.

"Nope. Not really." Emily clicked her tongue in frustration as she resumed putting on her athletic attire. She had almost forgotten that Tim had already seen her completely naked during a few awkward encounters. She grabbed her running shoes and tried to slip past him but he moved and blocked the exit.

"Ugh! What do you want?" She took a step back to get a better look at his face and put her hand on her hip.

"You told her about your parents" It wasn't a question. Emily ran her hands through her tousled hair.

"So?" Tim was looking at her steadily.

"Why her?"

"Whadyu mean 'why her'?'"

"You know what I mean."

"No I really don't, and I'm not sure I care." She tried to get past him again but his next words stopped her.

"Can you trust her?" She turned to look at him. His face was so serious that she had to laugh.

"No offense Tim, but it doesn't really matter if she tells anyone, it's not exactly a secret."

"No, Emily." The use of her full name made her brace herself for whatever was coming. "I mean can you trust that she wont abuse the information? Can you trust that she won't take advantage of it?" He paused, "Can you trust her with your heart?" Emily looked up at him disbelievingly.

"Oh my God, Tim! I'm not in _love _with her! I've known her for like a week. Plus, you know about my parents, it doesn't mean I'm in love with you now, does it?"

"It's different with us, I'm like your brother."

"Well, what makes you think it's different with her?" She regretted asking the moment the words fell out of her mouth. Tim smiled knowingly.

"I know you, Em. I know you're lonely." Emily opened her mouth in protest but Tim silenced her by raising his hand. "But I also know you're stubborn as hell and you would never admit that you're lonely. That's fine, it's who you are." Emily crossed her arms in front of herself.

"I've been watching you since she got here and you seem different. I've been trying to figure it out, and last night I think I finally understood. She had you from the second you saw her. " Silence filled the room. Emily's eyes were glued to her feet. When she finally spoke she hated the weakness she heard in her voice,

"Are we done here? I want to go for a run." Tim reached his hand out and lifted Emily's chin with his finger.

"I want nothing more than to see you be happy, Em. But I also don't want to see you get hurt." Emily reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I trust her."

* * *

Naomi didn't see much of Emily in the days that followed, and it gave her the distinct feeling that she was being avoided. Actually, it was more than just a feeling. Boredom made Naomi persistent - maybe even stalkeresque, and on several occasions she had purposely walked into the same room as Emily to try to make conversation, but she was always met with mumbled answers and averted eyes.

Her patience met its breaking point six days later…not that she was counting or anything. The hotel's staff had all gone home for the day, so Naomi had run out of people to chat with. She started roaming around the ground floor of the hotel in search for some means of entertainment. When she reached the kitchen she heard subdued voices coming from the music room and decided to investigate. As she got closer she heard a very distinct husky voice that made her stomach tighten in anticipation.

"I want to be the top." Naomi froze in the hallway outside the room.

"You're always the top! I want to try it out for once." _What the actual fuck? _Anger began to bubble up inside of her as she stood in the hallway listening.

"Quit whining and let's just do this." Without thinking Naomi burst into the room and yelled,

"What the fuck, Emily?" Two heads whipped around to look at her in astonishment. Naomi's blind rage dissolved when she saw Tim sitting at the piano and Emily standing with a guitar hanging off her shoulders.

"Naomi?" Emily's brow was creased with worry, "What's wrong?" Naomi looked mutely between the two of them. _Fuck. How do I backpedal my way out of this one? _

"Uh…" She looked helplessly at Tim who was now smiling widely, "I just…"

"She was just about to listen to our duet, right Naomi?" Tim's eyes were telling her to go with it so she straightened her back and tried to will the redness out of her cheeks.

"Yeah." Emily wasn't having it. Her brown eyes were locked on Naomi.

"Why'd you burst into the room screaming then?" _Balls. Time to regroup._ Naomi looked at Emily with her best bitch face,

"Can't a girl ever get excited?" Emily's eyes widened noticeably, a smirk playing on her lips.

"Naomi, there is a time and place for these things. Preferably in the privacy of your own bedroom..." Naomi choked on her reply, belatedly catching on to the double entendre of her words.

"Oookay ladies…time for some music!" Tim saved Naomi from a potential disaster as he turned to the piano and started playing. Emily's amused eyes were still on Naomi as she adjusted her guitar and started strumming along with him.

Naomi's jaw almost dropped to the floor when Emily's husky voice broke through the music. It was fucking beautiful. No, scratch that. That's not the right word. Her voice wasn't pretty like most singers. It was raspy, and hoarse. Naomi's heart began to speed up as she watched in awe. It was so…Emily.

After a few minutes Naomi realized that Tim was occasionally harmonizing with Emily. He sang a few notes above her, which made Naomi realize what they had been talking about when she was eavesdropping. _He's the top. Bloody hell. _His voice wasn't strong, but it complimented Emily's rawness well. They fit. Naomi found her mind wandering back to the first morning she'd met Tim, and how she thought that maybe he and Emily were a couple. Jealousy began to course through her veins as she watched him sing along. _He doesn't deserve her._

Naomi was pulled out of her thoughts as Emily began to improvise a few licks. She was looking down at her guitar, and her red bangs, which had formed a curtain in front of her eyes, flowed with the bobbing of her head. It was mesmerizing.

"That was wonderful." She said quietly as the song came to an end. Emily leaned forward slightly and then quickly flipped her hair back over her head. If Naomi was being honest, it was probably one of the sexiest things she'd ever seen. Too bad honesty is overrated.

"Thanks, Naomes" Emily said as she locked eyes with Naomi again.

"Right. Well, I'm going to bed." Both the girls looked over at Tim. Naomi had forgotten he was there.

"Kay. G'night" Emily said quickly before turning her attention back to Naomi. Naomi gulped as she realized that Tim's departure would leave the two of them alone in the room. Her eyes followed Tim as he strode out of the room.

"So, did you really like it?" Naomi reluctantly looked back at Emily. Her tone was nonchalant, but Naomi could tell by the look on her face that her next comment could make or break the redhead.

"No," she watched Emily's hopeful expression drop, "I fucking loved it." Emily's eyes snapped up. It took a few seconds but a huge smile spread across her face. She turned around to put her guitar back on its stand and came to stand next to Naomi. She was still beaming. Naomi took a deep breath,

"So."

"So?" Emily was looking at her expectantly.

"You and Tim, huh?" Emily's eyes widened.

"What about me and Tim?"

"You're together." Naomi watched as the redhead scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Ew, Naomi!" She nudged the blonde playfully, "I don't know what goes on in England, but incest is illegal in the States." Naomi couldn't help but let a smile spread across her face. She was partly smiling at Emily's humor, but she was mostly just relieved. _I know what you're thinking. Don't judge. _

"So you two have never…"

"No, Naomi! Quit being a perv." Both girls started to giggle, but Naomi's laughter caught in her throat when Emily scrunched her button nose and ruffled her bangs. She suddenly became acutely aware of her proximity to the redhead. Their arms were brushing against each other and – _Christ, she's fucking looking at me again. _Emily's rosy lips were in very close proximity, and her face was still flushed from the exertion of her impromptu performance. Naturally, Naomi did the only thing she could think of.

"Goodnight." She said as she turned on her heel and began to make her way towards the exit. She felt a warm hand grip her wrist firmly and before she knew it Emily Fitch was firmly pressed up against her body, hugging her tightly.

"Thanks for the other day," the redhead's warm breath on the nape of her neck sent shivers down her spine, "I'm sorry I took so long to tell you that."

Naomi couldn't have answered even if she wanted to, she had lost her ability to speak the moment Emily had grabbed hold of her wrist. They stayed in their embrace a few moments longer than necessary, but Naomi wasn't complaining.

"Night, Naomes." For the second time in less than a month, Naomi was left standing alone and speechless in a room with her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

.

.

* * *

**If you have a sec, I'd love to hear what you think so far :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying the story! **

**Thanks to all those who reviewed, and of course those who are still reading**

** :)**

* * *

Over the next few weeks Naomi became fascinated with time. _You thought I was going to say a certain redhead didn't you? Get your mind out of the gutter. _Time passed differently at the hotel than it had back in England. Naomi was used to rushing from place to place to make appearances at elite clubs or exclusive parties while being followed by a swarm of paparazzi calling her name and eager fans asking for an autograph. Everything was always a blur, even when she wasn't getting fucked up.

At the hotel, time was of no importance. For Naomi, every day was a repeat of the previous one. She would wake up at around 9 a.m., take a quick shower, go eat breakfast, stealthily keep tabs on Emily for a few hours, go for a walk, talk to the staff, eat again, read, try not to pull her own hair out from lack of outside stimuli, etc.

Essentially, Time was really starting to piss her off. The more time she spent doing nothing, the more she began to find herself immersed in introspection. Naomi quickly learned that Time and Introspection were not her friends - they were out on a personal mission to tear down every assumption she'd made about herself.

Back in England, Naomi was the definition of a party girl; she liked socializing, she liking drinking, she liked drugs, she liked sex etc. In essence, she liked letting go of all her inhibitions. But after a few months at the hotel she was beginning to realize that all these things weren't necessarily who she was, they were just another form of escape - different ways of allowing herself to momentarily forget who she was.

At first partying had been fun, but as time passed and Naomi began to act without reserve on a regular basis, things started to get out of control. Deep down she was ashamed of her own behavior and it in turn began a downward spiral of self-loathing. It got to the point where she would go out and get fucked up to try and forget the fact that she was acting like a twat. _Twisted, I know. _The only question that remained to be answered was why she felt the need to start acting like a stupid cow in the first place.

That was the question that Naomi had been running from for years, and now, with nothing but time on her hands, the answer was catching up to her.

* * *

It was Thanksgiving Day and Naomi was in a particularly bad mood. The hotel's staff were all given the day off due to the fact that there were only two other guests besides Naomi currently at the hotel, and of course because it was Thanksgiving. This meant that Naomi's main form of distraction was now gone. Instead, she had to settle for reading Henry James' _The_ _Turn of the Screw,_ a book she'd started a few days ago. Oddly enough, Naomi found herself relating fairly well to the main character, a governess who goes mad while staying at an isolated estate.

Naomi was sitting in a living room across from the reception when she heard small footsteps nearing the room. She tried to hold back the smile that was spreading across her face on its own accord – _I can't help it, she has a very distinct stride! _As she expected, Emily popped her head into the room a few seconds later. Naomi focused intently on the book in her hands, trying to appear immersed in the story.

"Naoms?" Emily's voice was quiet.

"Hmm?"

"Um…" She had stepped into the room and was now shifting her weight awkwardly between her two feet. Naomi looked up from her book,

"What is it?" Emily was trying to hide her slightly flushed face by looking down at her feet.

"Uh…" Naomi put the book aside and got to her feet.

"Out with it, Fitch." She watched as Emily took a deep breath.

"Someone is on the phone for you." After the words had left her mouth, Emily instinctively took a step back. Naomi rolled her eyes,

"Jesus Christ Ems, calm down. I'm not going to hit you!" Emily smiled apprehensively as Naomi brushed by her on the way to the wall phone in the kitchen.

* * *

Naomi walked up to the phone and took it off the receiver without thinking twice. Her mind was still wrapped up in the fact that Emily was mildly frightened of her. She was smirking to herself when she finally spoke,

"Hello?"

"Naomi, love. How are you?" She almost dropped the phone out of her hands when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Mum?"

"Who else would it be, dear?"

"Mum! Fucking hell!" She heard her mother's laughter on the other end of the line.

"Still a fan of the foul language I see." Naomi felt her eyes fill up with tears -she hadn't realized just how much she had missed Gina.

"Mum, how are you?" There was silence on the other end of the line. "Mum? Naomi shook the phone, fearing that the line cut out.

"I'm still here, love. I'm just surprised is all. I can't remember the last time you asked me how I was." Naomi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, well, this place seems to bring out the best in me, its rather annoying." She heard her mother chuckle.

"It suits you." Naomi rolled her eyes. "And don't roll your eyes at me." Naomi froze. _The fuck? _She looked over her shoulder instinctively. She heard another chuckle on the other end of the line. Naomi frowned,

"How did you – "

"Don't worry sweet, a mother always knows." The both of them broke into a fit of giggles. Naomi couldn't remember the last time she'd gotten along this well with her mother.

"So mum, why'dyu call? Just to wish me a happy Thanksgiving?"

"No not exactly…"

"Good, because this holiday really is a tad ridiculous. People gather to show appreciation for having ruthlessly slaughtered almost an entire indigenous culture. I can't believe it's still celebrated. People really have no shame at all do they?"

"No. Listen Naomi – "

"And on top of everything, I can't imagine how many millions of turkeys are killed in said demonstration of thanks. It's preposterous."

"Naomi…" The tone of Gina's voice made her snap to attention.

"What?"

"Don't you want to know why I called?"

"You mean other than to speak to your only daughter who you've quite carelessly banished to a mind-numbingly banal form of existence? No, I can't for the life of me imagine why." Naomi was smiling, she knew how much her mother hated sarcasm.

"It's Lucy." Her heart dropped. Lucy was one of her best friends back home. She was one of the only friends that had stuck by her when she had started partying. In fact, Naomi had gotten her into the club scene, and the two went out together on a regular basis.

"What happened?" There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Mum?" Naomi's voice had dropped to a whisper.

"She got arrested." There it was, like a punch to the gut.

"What? Why?"

"Drugs." _Fuck. _

Lucy had always looked up to Naomi and did pretty much anything she did or said. She was a sweet girl, but she was a follower. Naomi knew she'd taken advantage of that fact when she had encouraged her to take her first drink, kiss her first guy, and even do her first line of coke.

"Naomi?" Her mother's voice rang out from the receiver that Naomi had dropped. Her hands were shaking too much to hold it. _Shit. Shit. Fuck. Shit._

"Honey?" Naomi started to shake her head from side to side.

"No, no, no, no, no, -" Naomi mumbled. _Lucy was always weak. You knew she was weak. She couldn't take it. _She dropped to her knees. It was coming. The truth she'd been running from. She shook her head even harder to try to deter it.

"Naomi?" She could still hear her mother's distressed voice coming through the receiver. She covered her ears and continued shaking her head.

"No, no, no, no, no - " _You were the one who brought her into it. You got out, but she couldn't. She was in too deep and you knew it. You fucking knew it and you didn't do anything. _Then it hit her. Like a train on a track, it hit her.

_It's your fault._

* * *

When Emily had walked by the kitchen a few minutes earlier, she was delighted to hear the sound of Naomi's laughter. She knew Gina was on the phone, and she was thrilled that the two seemed to be getting along. This only added to her surprise when she walked by the kitchen again and heard sobs. _Crap. _

Emily practically ran into the room but stopped dead when she rounded the corner and saw Naomi. Her heart sank. She was sitting on the ground, huddled up into a ball with her back against the wall. Her head was buried in her knees and her shoulders were shaking with the sobs she was trying to hold in.

"Naomi?" Emily got onto her knees and tried to look into her eyes.

"Naoms, what happened?" The blonde covered her ears and started shaking her head from side to side. Emily looked on helplessly for a few awkward seconds before shuffling herself next to Naomi and putting an arm around her shoulder.

"Shh…it's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay." Naomi shook her head again and tried to speak.

"N-n-no." The blonde's shockingly blue teary eyes turned their attention to Emily. _My God, she is stunning._

"It's m-m-m-my fault." Emily felt her heart squeeze in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to make Naomi's pain go away.

"Whatever happened, I'm sure it's not your fault." The blonde was now staring vacuously at her knees.

"Naomi, look at me." Emily put her finger under her chin and applied light pressure until Naomi reluctantly acquiesced.

"It's not your fault. I don't know what happened, but I know you, and I'm certain that it wasn't your fault." Naomi's blue eyes looked into her own with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. It was heartbreaking. When her face finally crumpled, Emily pulled her tightly against herself. As she felt the girl's warm breath on the base of her neck and her wet tears on her shirt, she hoped that what she'd said had helped more than it had hurt.

* * *

When Naomi's sobs died down, Emily got to her feet and held out her hand. Naomi looked up at her questioningly.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Away from here." She opened and closed her hand a few times to reiterate her point. Naomi hesitated for only a moment before grabbing her hand and being pulled to her feet.

"Go wait on the front porch, I'll be out in a minute." Naomi opened her mouth in protest but Emily gave her a stern look.

"Just do it." She turned on her heel and was out of the room before Naomi could ask any more questions.

* * *

Naomi was standing on the front steps of the hotel with her arms folded over her chest and a scowl on her face. She felt like shit. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and cry herself into a heap of self-pity. Unfortunately for her, Emily Fucking Fitch was having none of it.

A deep rumbling coming from behind the hotel momentarily wiped the scowl off her face. She peered over her shoulder to try to see what the ruckus was about. Then she saw it. A bright yellow vintage VW bug was rounding the corner with Emily in the driver's seat. The car pulled up next to her. Emily leaned over to the passenger's seat and rolled down the window.

"Hop in!"

"Is it safe?" Naomi had to raise her voice so she could be heard over the engine.

"Of course it's safe! Now quit being a prudent Prudence and get in!" Naomi glared at the redhead but opened the door and plopped into the squishy seat. Emily grinned at her from the driver's seat.

"Ready?" She couldn't help smiling along with Emily as she nodded her head.

The redhead stepped on the clutch and put the car in gear. It lurched forward and let out a sound that resembled an old man coughing. When the car was safely in motion, Emily looked sheepishly at Naomi.

"Sorry, it's a stick. I'm a little rusty." Naomi's only answer was tightening her hold on the car's door handle and turning her attention to the road in front of her.

_Bloody hell. This is going to be a long ride._

_._

_._

_

* * *

_**So what do you think?**

** I pretty much have the next chapter all worked out (in my head), so it should be up relatively soon. **

**Hope you liked it! =p**


	12. Chapter 12

Naomi sat in the car with her arms folded over her chest as she looked out the window of the Bug. They were driving along a winding two-laned road that was covered in crimson and yellow leaves that had fallen off of the surrounding trees.

So far the car ride had been passed mostly in silence. Emily had tried to spark up a conversation a few times, but Naomi had quite harshly shut her down. She wanted to make it clear that she wasn't in the mood for whatever plans Emily had up her sleeve. Regrettably, their lack of conversation had inspired the redhead to start fiddling with the car's tuner radio. The crackling and popping of the radio's bad reception was giving Naomi a headache and worsening her mood. _Can't this girl just sit still and fucking drive?_ Emily shrieked as she was leaning over to turn the radio off, making Naomi's hand snap back in surprise.

"Jesus Christ, Fitch. What the fuck is the matter?" Emily's hand waved in the air frantically for a few seconds before her hand flew to the dial and she turned up the volume.

"I _love _this song!" Naomi gave the overly excited redhead a death stare but it went unnoticed. Emily was now bopping her head and singing along (quite loudly) to Thurston Harris's adaptation of 'Little Bitty Pretty One'.

"Are you fucking kidding me, Ems?" Despite her annoyance, Naomi couldn't help but let her lips curve into a reluctant smile. Emily's enthusiasm was catching.

When Naomi told the redhead to watch the road, she simply nodded her head and turned up the music - it would have been infuriating if she didn't look so adorable. Her bangs were bouncing on her forehead as she contorted her face in concentration while trying to sing her own harmonies along with the song. Whenever she hit a wrong note she'd giggle to herself before resuming her singing.

Naomi tried rolling her eyes one last time but a smile stretched across her face instead. _Fuck it, _she thought before reluctantly joining in with Emily – her bad mood was almost completely forgotten.

* * *

After about 20 minutes, Emily turned onto a dirt path after a bend in the road. She followed it for a few minutes before a small white house appeared seemingly out of nowhere. When they pulled up in front of the house, Emily cut the engine of the car but made no move to get out. Naomi glanced over at her.

"Where are we?" Emily's eyes were trained on the steering wheel.

"La Casa Fitch." With a conclusive sigh, the redhead turned and opened the car door.

"What are we doing here?" Emily was already at the front door of the house by the time Naomi had gotten out of the car.

"I need to grab a few things." She was running her hands along the door's frame.

"Alright…" Emily had gotten onto her knees and was lifting up the entrance mat.

"Looking for something?"

"Yeah. James was the last person to leave the house but I don't know where he hid the spare key." Naomi scanned the entrance.

"Is he taller than you by any chance?" Emily glanced up at her from the floor.

"Um, yeah, why?" Naomi got onto her tiptoes and ran her fingers along the top of the doorframe. They quickly came in contact with a cold key. She smiled down at Emily triumphantly.

"You need to start seeing the world through the eyes of a normal-sized human being." Emily got to her feet and grabbed the key out of her hand, a smile of gratitude playing on her lips.

"I am normal-sized," she mumbled as she fiddled with the lock, "you're just abnormally large." Naomi nudged Emily with her shoulder.

"Alright pipsqueak, that's enough out of you." Naomi's comment earned her a playful shove from the redhead, which caused her to stumble backwards.

"Hey!" she said as she regained her balance. When she glanced back up she saw that the door to the house was wide open, and Emily was nowhere to be seen. She muttered a curse word as she stepped up to the threshold.

"Ems?" she called into the dark house. She could hear the clinking of pots and pans coming from what she assumed was the kitchen.

"Come on in, klutz!" Naomi rolled her eyes and stepped inside.

* * *

Once she got accustomed to the relative darkness, Naomi started to look around. Although there was a layer of dust covering everything, she could see that in its day the house was probably quaint and cozy. There were several photo frames over the fireplace that caught her attention, so she walked over to investigate. Most of the photos were of Emily and James, but there was also a wedding photograph of who she assumed to be Rob and Jenna Fitch.

"I see you've met my parents." Naomi jumped at the proximity of Emily's husky voice.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I just – "

"Relax, Naoms," Emily moved next to Naomi so that their shoulders were brushing against each other, "you're allowed to look."A comfortable silence descended in the room as they both looked at the photographs. After a few minutes Naomi decided to break the silence.

"Can I ask you a question?" Emily's eyes remained on the photograph of her parents as she hummed in response.

"Why isn't your sister, Katie, in any of these photos?" She felt the redhead tense beside her.

"What do you mean?" Naomi closed her eyes as she mentally kicked herself. _Shit, I should have kept my fucking mouth shut. _

"Naomi…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, it's none of my business." When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that Emily was smiling at her. Actually, it looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"What?" Emily grabbed her hand in response and began pulling her towards the staircase.

When they reached the top of the steps, Emily made her way down the hallway and stopped at the last door on the right. She beckoned Naomi with her hand before she opened the door, allowing light from the room to flood the hallway. When Naomi hesitated, the redhead walked up to her and grabbed her hand, effectively rendering her completely useless.

"Come on, don't be shy." Before Naomi could think of a sarcastic reply, she was standing at the threshold of a room with two twin beds. Her eyes widened as Emily pulled her in and closed the door.

The left side of the room was covered in posters of shirtless men and handsome faces. The bed had a pink comforter with frilly pillows on it, and hanging above it was a small plaque that read, "Bitch, I'm not conceited, I'm just awesome" in pretty cursive handwriting. Naomi rolled her eyes as she turned her attention to the right side of the room.

There was a striking difference between this side and the other. Her first impression was that is was much more subdued. The bedspread was dark blue, and there were a few posters of famous actresses on the walls, but what stood out to her the most was the poster that was above the bed. It was of a woman standing with a microphone and its stand gripped tightly in her two hands. She was flinging her head back, exposing her white neck, and her long, jet-black hair was flipped out behind her. The background was overexposed, but it only added to the mood of the photograph. Naomi felt chills up and down her spine at the raw passion that was emanating from image.

Her roaming eyes then fell on a bookshelf that ran along the back wall of the room. She walked over to see if there were any interesting titles, but was distracted by a photograph that was lying flat on one of the shelves. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head when she picked it up and saw two Emilys. _Wait. What? _

She brought the photograph closer to her eyes. It looked like it was taken when Emily was about 13 or 14. Both Emilys had brown hair, but one was dressed in a pink spaghetti strap top with super-short shorts and the other had on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Naomi focused her eyes on the slutty Emily. Her face was a little bit rounder, and her noise was slightly pointed. The wheels in her mind began turning slowly.

"Katie is your _twin?" _

"Mmhmm…"

"So she _was_ in the pictures downstairs - you were just never in the same one together!" Naomi sounded like an excited five-year old, even to herself. _Get a grip, woman! They're twins, not extraterrestrials. _Disregarding her own advice, she turned around with the photo in her hands to ask if twins could read each other's minds. The question died in her throat when she saw Emily standing on the blue bed peeling the poster of the singer off the wall.

"What are you doing?" Naomi's alarmed voice rang out in the room. She heard Emily chuckle.

"Jesus, Naomi. Calm down. I'm going to bring it back to the hotel to put in my room there."

"Yes, but…"

"But what? It is mine, after all." Naomi realized she was being irrational but she couldn't help it.

"Just, be careful with it." Emily shot her a glance as she jumped down off the bed.

"Do you know who it is?"

"No," Naomi admitted.

"It's Alison Mosshart. From The Kills and The Dead Weather. Ever heard of either of them?" Naomi shook her head in response.

"She's the lead singer of both. I'll show them to you when we get back to the hotel." She held out her hand, and Naomi took it without thinking twice. Emily led her out of the room and back down the stairs.

When they reached the ground floor, Naomi noticed that there was a large metal oven tray propped up against the front door. She was about to ask what it was for but Emily seemed to have read her mind.

"I wanted to make a ham in the oven tonight for Thanksgiving, but I didn't have a big enough tray," Emily said as she picked it up and walked out the door.

* * *

After she managed to get the tray and the poster into the Bug, she turned around to see Naomi standing in the doorway looking crestfallen. Emily had been trying to distract the blonde from the meltdown she'd had earlier, but it was obviously an issue that needed to be addressed. With a sigh, she walked up to Naomi and held out her hand. Her insides lit up when the blonde took her hand without question – it was something she'd been taking advantage of all day.

She wordlessly led Naomi around to the back of the house where there was a wooden porch swing hanging off of one of the trees. She sat down and motioned for Naomi to do the same. When they were both situated, Emily looked at her evenly and asked,

"What happened?" She watched as Naomi looked down at her hands and swallowed. The blonde knew exactly what she was referring to.

"My friend got arrested. It's my fault." Emily waited patiently for Naomi to elaborate, but it looked like the blonde's mind was elsewhere.

"How is it your fault that she got arrested?" Naomi looked at her like she had grown a third eye.

"I'm the one who got her into drugs in the first place." Although Naomi was being cryptic, it didn't take long for Emily to figure out what she was saying.

"So you think it's your fault that your friend, all the way in England might I add, got arrested on drug charges because you did drugs with her a few times?" Naomi was looking at her blankly.

"Naoms, you can't blame yourself for other people's actions. I've been there, and let me tell you, it's a slippery slope." Tears were now forming in the bright blue eyes that were boring into her own. Emily didn't know if she was helping or hurting, but she took a chance and kept going.

"She could have gotten out of it if she wanted to. Look at you," she said as she gestured to Naomi, "I'm sure you're not the same person you were a few months ago. Life can be a bitch, believe me, I know, but you can't hold yourself accountable for it." Unbelievably, a small smile was playing at the blonde's lips.

"Shit happens, deal with it," Naomi mumbled. Emily slapped her shoulder good-naturedly and clicked her tongue.

"Jesus Nai, way to put it bluntly," Naomi grinned at her mischievously, "but I guess that is the general idea. We have no control over others, hell, we barely even have control over ourselves. We've just gotta keep rolling with the punches." Naomi smiled as she wiped a stray tear off of her cheek. Emily was surprised when the blonde linked her arm with her own and rested her head on her shoulder.

"So, do you know who I am? Back in England I mean." Emily smiled.

"Of course I do. You're a famous supermodel who pelted somebody in the head with your cell-phone. I feel like I've got to tell you that there are better ways to get someone's attention than throwing communication devices at their heads." Naomi was silent for a few seconds. Emily began to think that maybe she hadn't caught onto the joke, but soon the blonde erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Fuck you, Fitch!" she said when she'd caught her breath. Her amused blue eyes were glistening with tears of amusement. Emily felt a lightness settle in her stomach, knowing that she was the one who had put them there. A few wisps of Naomi's blonde hair had fallen over her face when she'd thrown her head back in laughter. Emily tucked them behind her ear before she had a chance to think about what she was doing.

Both girls suddenly froze. Blue was staring into black. Emily glanced down at Naomi's lips as she pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth. After a tense few seconds, Emily belatedly pulled her hand back from Naomi's ear.

"Sorry," she muttered before she cleared her throat, "let's get going, shall we? I've got a ham to make!" Emily platonically patted Naomi's thigh before standing up and smiling back at the red-faced blonde. Naomi returned the smile half-heartedly and rose to her feet.

"Let's roll."

.

.

* * *

**I couldn't figure out how to link the photo of Alison Mosshart on here, so I made it my avatar/icon instead (if you want to check it out).**

**I think it's brilliant, and I thought it was a fitting poster for Emily to have. It reminds me of her.**

**Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story, and if you have a few minutes I'd love to hear what you think!**

**Questions, concerns, comments, etc. are all welcome =p**


	13. Chapter 13

**I was really torn about this chapter. I had to rewrite it a few different times until it finally felt right (which is why this chapter is slightly delayed). I took a bit of a risk and changed the narration, so it's a little different than usual. It's twice as long as my previously longest chapter, so if it's horrible, well, at least it'll be REALLY horrible, right?**

**;)**

* * *

Fuck Thanksgiving. It is probably one of the most preposterous holidays I've ever encountered. People will find any excuse to celebrate, wont they? Well, fuck celebration. Nothing good ever comes of it.

I'm sitting along in my room, in the dark, trying my hardest not to cry. The best way I can describe what is wrong is that my heart hurts. It feels like there has been an explosion in my chest, and for some reason, the result is that I want to cry. Fuck. Everything was going fine until we decided to celebrate.

I bet you want to know what happened, yeah? The simple answer is that Emily Fitch is what fucking happened, but I'm sure you want to hear the details. Okay, lets rewind a bit then, shall we?

* * *

The car ride back to the hotel was hell. I doubt Emily noticed that anything was wrong though. She turned on the radio and hummed along with the music almost the entire ride. I was the one having a mini panic attack. For some reason, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Well, I mean, she is rather fucking beautiful, and the setting sun was shining on her face just so, but there was something else.

This morning when she saw me crying in the kitchen, she told me with utmost sincerity that whatever had happened wasn't my fault. How could she know that? She didn't even know what had happened, and yet, her big brown eyes looked into mine with such conviction and confidence. She _believed_ in me.

Then back at her house when I finally told her about Lucy's arrest, I expected her to get angry with me and tell me that she had been wrong earlier - that is _was _my fault after all. Well, she did get mad, but not about what I thought. She was mad that I even blamed myself in the first place. I felt tears spring into my eyes at that point, I couldn't help it. She sees me so differently than most people do. I don't know, it's like she sees who really I am and likes me all the more for it. It's quite easily one of the most terrifying epiphanies I've ever had.

When we got back to the hotel, Emily sauntered off into the kitchen to get started on dinner after telling me to go ask the two other guests if they wanted to join us. I had no idea which rooms they were staying in so I decided to start randomly knocking on doors. Efficient, I know.

It turned out that the two guests were staying in the same room. I figured that out pretty quickly when I got to the second floor and heard, um, inappropriate noises coming from the last room on the left. I have rarely felt so uncomfortable. Sure, I've had my fair share of shags, but hearing someone else go at it is very different. As luck would have it, the door to the room swung open just as I had decided to come back later.

A tall, rail-thin girl wearing an oversized black t-shirt stepped out into the hallway. Fuck. I stood frozen in the hallway, hoping she wouldn't see me.

"Having a listen, are we?" she said as she turned slowly towards me. Her long brown hair was sporting the 'I just had sex look', and her blue eyes were blazing into mine.

Busted. I had no idea how to explain my way out of this one without sounding like a perv, so I did what I do best. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and scowled at her.

"Um, ew?" Her lips curved into a devilish smirk. It was creepy as hell, but I continued.

"Emily Fitch, the owner of the hotel, wanted me to invite you and your… shagmate to dinner."

"Why?" she asked, her blue eyes never wavering from mine.

"It's Thanksgiving."

"You're English." Bloody hell.

"Right, because I didn't already know that. Now, are you going to be joining us or not?" She looked at me steadily for a few more seconds, the smirk still in place. By this point I'd had enough of the bitch so I rolled my eyes and turned around, making my way to the stairs.

"We'll be down at 8:00," she called after me. I waved my hand in a dismissive manner without so much as a glance back at her.

Fucking Americans.

* * *

Emily was bustling about in the kitchen when I told her that the guests would be joining us.

"Are they really?" she asked, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Yeah, they'll be down at 8." She smiled widely and resumed her bustling.

"So, who are they?" I asked after a few moments, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Who? The guests?" She missed my eye roll because she was digging around in a cupboard looking for something.

"Yes," I said, trying to hide the irritation in my voice.

"Dunno. I guess we'll find out tonight, won't we?" I sighed loudly. Her head popped back out from the cupboard - her brown eyes were suddenly fixed on mine.

"Why? Did something happen?" I had no intention of explaining the extremely awkward encounter I'd just had so I shook my head.

"No, I was sort of kind of hoping dinner could be just us two." I snapped my mouth closed as soon as the words fell out of them. Why had I just said that? Emily's eyes brightened considerably as she took a step closer to me.

"I just assumed, because you're so used to being around people all the time, that you'd welcome the added company." Damn, good point. I sputtered about for a second.

"Well…yeah…I mean, I do, but…" I paused for a moment to collect myself. Emily was smiling amusedly at my awkwardness but wisely refrained from commenting.

"Never mind. I'll go get ready, yeah? That is of course if you don't need any help getting dinner ready." She shook her head,

"Nope, I'll take care of the food. I'll see you at 8."

* * *

I went back to my room and debated on my outfit for a few minutes. Since I'd been at the hotel, there'd really been no reason to dress up, so I'd mostly worn baggy sweaters and loose pants. Tonight though, I decided to be a little more extravagant. After taking a shower and straightening my hair, I put on a pair of white skinny jeans, blue heels, and a dark blue slouchy sweater that hung off of one shoulder. I accessorized with a long necklace, hoops, and a few bangles. I put on some make-up, and voilá, I was ready for dinner.

I glanced at the clock, and then out of my window. It was 7:45, and it was pitch black out. It usually gets dark at around 4:30-5:00 o'clock-ish, but tonight it seems even darker than usual. I think it's because the waning crescent moon is hidden behind some clouds. Either way, it's fucking dark.

I made my way down to the kitchen to see if Ems needed any help with some last minute table setting or something, but she was nowhere to be seen. My eyes soon landed on the kitchen table, and I'm sure my mouth fell open. It was set for four people, and it looked extravagant. It looked like we were about to dine at a 5 star restaurant. Oddly enough, I felt my chest puff out in pride when I remembered that Emily had done all this.

"Do you think it'll be enough?" I closed my eyes, reveling in the husky voice I heard behind me.

"It's more than enough," I whispered to myself, eyes still closed.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." I smiled and turned to face her.

"I said I think it's –" My words got caught in my throat when I saw her. She was wearing black skinny jeans, and a black boyfriend blazer with the sleeves rolled up. Underneath she was wearing a tight white v-neck (who knew Emily had boobs?), and a long necklace with a feather pendant.

"…lovely" I croaked out. My throat was completely dry so I cleared it and tried again. Fuck me, she looked good.

"The table I mean, it's lovely." Emily's brown eyes were focused intently on me.

"Yeah?" Her black heels clicked against the wood floor as she took a few steps towards me.

"Yes," I said with a note of finality. She was so close to me all of a sudden, I didn't know what to do. Even in heels, her dark eyes were only level with my nose, but I suddenly felt small. She was doing that thing that she does, you know, where she looks at me and really _sees_. I flinched when her fingers brushed my arm.

"You look nice," she whispered huskily. I hadn't ever felt butterflies until that moment. They erupted in my stomach with such force that my legs felt weak. I was utterly speechless.

"Yeah, you look totally fuckable, Blondie." I practically jumped away from Emily when the voice ripped me out of my trance. Pain flashed in her eyes but she covered it up quickly when she followed my line of sight and saw that the guests had arrived.

The girl I'd seen before was standing in the doorway next to a guy who about as tall as she was. He was grinning like a goon, obviously proud of himself for his clever comment.

"Who the fuck are you?" I asked as I folded my arms in front of my chest. My speechlessness had been replaced by agitation. Although I was secretly grateful for the interruption, I already didn't like these people.

"I'm Cook." He said matter-of-factly. I glared at him for a few seconds before Emily broke the silence.

"Good, well, I'm Emily, and this is Naomi" she said while pointing at me. Cook put his arm around the girl next to him and said,

"Nice to meet ya, Em," I tensed at the familiar use of her name, "This here's Effy."

"Weird fucking names you two've got," I grumbled under my breath.

"What's that, sweetie?" Yes, he called me sweetie. Fucking tosser.

"I said –"

"Let's eat!" Emily wisely interrupted me before I could make the situation any worse.

We walked over to the table and took our seats while Emily scurried off to get the ham out of the oven. Cook and Effy sat next to each other so I sat across from them. I could feel Effy's eyes on me, studying me, judging me. I didn't like it.

"You look familiar." She stated simply. I looked at her steadily for a few seconds. She had brushed her sex hair, and she had applied dark eyeliner, but she still looked…off. I can't quite explain it, it's just a vibe I got. Something was seriously fucked up about her.

"I wish I could say the same about you." I answered. Her lips curved into smirk. She looked like she was about to say something else but Emily came back to the table with a huge ham on tray. It was so big that I could barely see her head peeping over it as she placed it on the table.

"My god, Ems!" She flashed me a quick smile before she scurried away again to grab the salad.

* * *

Half a ham, 4 bottles of wine, and some very awkward dinner conversation later, we were all ready to burst. Cook leaned back in his chair and put his hand over his now bulging stomach.

"Fucking hell, Emilio, I didn't know that dykes knew how to cook!" My eyes widened, but Emily giggled amusedly beside me.

"I'm not gay!" she responded weakly. Cook threw his head back in laughter.

"Yeah, and the Pope ain't Catholic!" Emily flicked a piece of bread at him and mumbled something incomprehensible. The two actually seemed to get along pretty well - I don't think I'd ever seen Emily laugh that much since I'd met her. I'm not complaining though, her laughter is like music to my ears.

"You're Naomi Campbell." Effy's voice cut through the light atmosphere like a knife. To be honest, I knew this was coming. Her blue eyes had remained fixed on me throughout the entire meal – it was only a matter of time.

Cook roared in laughter. "You mean she's a hot black model? No offense Eff, but I think you've had a little too much wine." Effy ignored him completely, her smirk growing wider by the second.

I sighed. I really didn't feel like having this conversation right now. Emily, bless her, must have noticed my annoyance because she pulled on my sleeve and asked,

"Are you ready to help me put up that poster?" I glanced at her sideways. She was giving me a way out of the irritating conversation that was sure to ensue. I smiled at her gratefully.

"Definitely. Do you want me to help you clean up first?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll do it tomorrow." I nodded and we both stood up. Emily wobbled slightly and I put my arm on her shoulder to steady her. She's such a lightweight.

"It was nice meeting you two, thank you for joining us." She said politely. Cook got up and pulled her into a bear hug.

"Thanks for everything, Red. I can't remember the last time I ate that well." Emily blushed slightly and turned to me.

"We're off!" she said as she started making her way out of the kitchen.

"Cook, Effy," I nodded curtly at them both, "pleasure."

"Go get 'em, Blondie!" he said as he slapped my butt. If he'd done that before dinner I probably would've punched his lights out, but after getting to know him a bit, I realize that it's just who he is. I told him to fuck off as I stumbled after Emily.

She turned around and held out her hand for me as I caught up to her. She must have seen the hesitation in my eyes.

"I don't know about you, Naoms, but I can't make it up four flights of stairs alone in the state that I'm in." When she said that I realized just how much my head was swimming. I guess I've lost the tolerance I built up in England since I've been here. Either way, I grabbed hold of her hand tightly and didn't let go until we'd made it up all of the steps.

* * *

A rush of nervousness flooded my system as we stood outside her door, and I'm not entirely sure why. I was just going to help her put up the poster, right? Emily turned around to face me.

"I'm kind of nervous," she admitted sheepishly, "I don't usually let people see my room."

"Why is that?" I asked, relieved that I wasn't the only one feeling nervous.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I guess it's because my room is a reflection of myself in many ways. By letting someone into my room, I feel like I'm letting them see another part of myself. It's stupid, really." I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's not stupid, Ems - I think it actually makes sense. It's alright if you don't want to let me in."

"No." Her eyes met mine. I felt a chill run up my spine as she looked into me with such certainty. She swayed slightly after a few seconds and put her hand on the doorknob to steady herself.

"Fuck, I'm tipsy as hell." I laughed out loud.

"Since when do you curse?" She flashed me smile before she turned and opened the door.

"Your potty mouth is rubbing off on me," she said as she began making her way up the final steps that led to her room.

"Ok, I take it back. Saying 'potty mouth' cancels out any previous foul language," I said as I followed her up into the dark room.

I struggled to get up the stairs without Emily's hand pulling me along - the combination of alcohol and the darkness proved to be my undoing. When I finally reached the final step I noticed that Emily was no longer in front of me.

"Ems?" I called out, embarrassed at my irrational fear. I heard a giggle come from the opposite side of the dark room.

"You're hilarious, Tinkerbell. Ever heard of a lamp?" I took my heels off and cautiously began walking forward into the darkness with my hands extended in front of me. I couldn't see a fucking thing but I could hear some rustling in the space ahead of me, so I trudged on.

"Keep your vagina on, I'm looking for the switch!" I burst out in laughter. I'd never really seen this light side of Emily. During the day she's always friendly, but she still has a certain politeness to her that I guess goes along with being at work. Tonight though, she's treating me like I'm an actual a friend rather than just another guest at her hotel. She's letting me in, and I've got to say, I am happy she is because I like this Emily. A lot.

When I finally caught my breath I started to tell her to quit being a smartass but the retort was cut short when I stubbed my (you guessed it) pinky toe on something. Hard. Really, really, hard.

"Arghhh" I grunted out in pain as I dropped my heels and pulled my foot into my hands. Just then a warm glow stretched into the room from the lamp that Emily had finally managed to turn on. Of course.

"Shit, Naomi, are you okay?" she asked worriedly as she teetered over to me.

"Fuuuuuuck," I declared articulately as I planted my bum on her bed. She tried to hold back a smile when she saw my foot in my hands.

"That damn pinky again, huh?" I glared at her. Her amused smile faded as an uneasy expression crossed her face. I suddenly felt bad for taking her joke seriously instead of laughing along with her. I have a tendency to be a fun-sucking bitch.

Her concerned expression was starting to look more panicked than anything else. I took a deep breath.

"Ems, I'm sorry for being such a bitch all the time. I know you were just joking. I forget how to be nice sometimes, you know?" Emily had turned away from me and was rifling through one of her drawers. I sighed and flopped backwards onto her bed, ashamed of my innate character flaws.  
"I'm so sorry," I mumbled, "I'm a right cow." I closed my eyes, trying to get the room to stop spinning. I was definitely drunk. Em had a fluffy duvet on her bed that made me feel like I was floating on a cloud. I felt sleep pulling at my consciousness despite myself. (Ok, so maybe _I'm _the lightweight.)

My eyes snapped open when I felt two warm hands on either one of my thighs. I tried to sit up but the room tilted threateningly to the left.

"Fuck," I grumbled as I put my hand over my face.

"It's ok, Naoms, just sit still." I felt her hands move down to my foot and brush over my pinky toe lightly. I had almost forgotten about the pain until then.

"Owww," I whined, "whatreyou doing?" I pulled my leg up into my chest instinctively. I heard Emily let out an irritated breath. Why was she getting angry? I already said I was sorry.

"Naomi, look at me." I opened my eyes and saw her looking down at me with a mixture of irritation and concern.

"You're bleeding. I'm going to need you to cooperate with me so that I can patch you up." I was bleeding? What the fuck? I gathered the strength to sit up on the edge of the bed and I looked down at my toe.

"I am indeed bleeding," I said, stating the obvious. It was odd, I saw my toe, and I saw the blood, but it really didn't hurt that much.

"I think the alcohol is numbing my pain receptors." I said, voicing my thoughts. Emily smiled as she got on her knees between my legs and gently lifted my foot into her hands.

"Only you could scientifically analyze your bleeding toe while intoxicated," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, only you could patch someone up while _you're _intoxicated." Nice comeback, Naomi. Brilliant. She took out a piece of gauze from the first-aid kit she had next to her.

"I didn't drink that much, Naoms. You and Cook practically finished off all of the wine by yourselves." I flinched a little as she poured something into the cut, making it sting like hell.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I want to make sure it's disinfected before I bandage you up." Honestly, I didn't care. I had an amazing view down her shirt from where I was sitting.

Sad but true.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Emily momentarily stopped what she was doing to steal a glance up at me. She looked surprised by the abrupt change in topic. I was actually pretty surprised too, the question tumbled out of my mouth as soon as it popped into my head. Alcohol tends to dissolve my verbal filter.

"No, I haven't," she answered honestly. I have no idea why, but I let out a sigh of relief. Okay, maybe I have a bit of an idea, but that's beside the point.

"Then how do you know you're gay?" I watched as she put a fresh piece of gauze on my toe before covering it up with a band-aid. She put all her materials back in the kit and closed it up neatly. Then she sat back on her heels and looked at me steadily for a few moments.

Her eyes were searching for something in mine. I didn't know what she was looking for, but she must have found it because she sat up straight on her knees – her eyes almost level with mine, her hands on either one of my thighs, and she leaned forward and kissed me.

Fuck me, I have never been so completely taken aback in my entire life. Butterflies erupted in my stomach as her soft lips pressed into mine. Even through my jeans, her hands were making the skin on my thighs burn.

She pulled back and looked into my still-open eyes. Her eyes were dark, but they were laced with vulnerability and…fear? I could feel my heart beating wildly against my ribcage as I glanced down at her moist lips. They looked so inviting.

"I just know." She said, answering my previous question. I looked back up into her dark eyes and I bit my lip. Emily Fitch just kissed me. A _girl _just kissed me. I think it was better than any other kiss I've ever had. What the fuck is happening?

I could feel a familiar feeling begin to bubble up in my chest. It never fails to make an appearance whenever I begin to feel emotion or when I start to care about something or someone. Fear. Raw, unadulterated fear.

I had to get out of there. I glanced down at Emily's lips one last time before I stood up hastily.

"I have to go," I muttered as I grabbed my heels off of the ground and hobbled towards the stairs.

"Naomi," Emily's husky voice reached my ears as I struggled down the stairs, "I'm –"I slammed the attic door shut before I she could finish her sentence.

* * *

So here I am in my room. All sobered up, with a sore toe, and alone. I'm always alone though. Even when I'm with people, I'm alone. I never let anybody in. I never let anybody see who I really am. The only problem is Emily already sees who I am, so she's in by default. It scares the living daylights out of me.

My lips are still tingling. I can still feel her hands on my thighs. I can still see the pain in her eyes as she looked up at me from the ground when I was gathering my shoes. Fuck.

I wipe away a tear that rolls down my cheek. She is so honest, so real, so _pure_. I know I'm going to fuck that up, I just know it. I'm going to fuck her up just like I've fucked up everybody who has ever cared about or loved me.

I can't do that to her.

I can't be the reason why the light in her eyes goes out.

I need to get out of here.

Now.

.

.

* * *

**Let me know what you think! **

**Writing in the first person seems to flow a little bit easier when I'm writing...I'm curious to see if it comes across when you read it as well.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I got into college! **

**Woo! **

** I thought I'd spread the love and upload another chapter**

** :)**

* * *

Emily was perched on a windowsill across from her bed with one leg tucked up into her chest and the other hanging off of the sill. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting against one of the cold windowpanes while she listened to an old record.

She opened her eyes slightly to glance at the bleak landscape surrounding the hotel. December was just a few days away. The temperature was beginning to drop below zero degrees at night, making the ground freeze over well into the day. She was a surprised it hadn't snowed yet.

It was the Monday morning after Thanksgiving, so the hotel was beginning to fill up with guests quickly. Normally, Emily would be greeting new arrivals and making sure everything was running smoothly, but she just didn't have it in her today. Instead, she was up in her room avoiding responsibility. This was definitely a first for the redhead.

The only person she really wanted to see was avoiding her like the plague, so she didn't even bother to turn her head when she heard footsteps ascending the stairs into her room. The footsteps slowed to a stop a few feet away from her.

"What happened?" Tim's voice was barely distinguishable over the music. She heard him walk over to the record player to turn it off. Silence rang out into the room. Emily scrunched her eyes closed tightly. She couldn't relax unless there was music playing.

"Turn it back on," she requested firmly.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." The combination of her restless mind, a severe lack of sleep, grey weather, and a dull headache had put her in a bad mood.

"Tim, just leave it." She felt misdirected anger start to flood her veins when she heard him take a seat on her bed instead of just leaving her the _fuck _alone.

"I can't leave it, Em. Not when there are ten guests checking in downstairs and my main girl is missing in action." Emily clenched her fists in frustration. He was right, but at the moment she hated that he was right. She took a deep breath to steady herself before she spoke,

"I'll be down in a minute." He didn't answer immediately, but she could feel his eyes on her. She knew Tim. He wasn't going to let this go.

"It's that girl, isn't it?" Emily turned to look at him for the first time since he walked into the room. He must have seen the answer in her eyes because he nodded sympathetically after looking at her steadily for a few moments.

"Em-"

"I kissed her." Tim fell into a stunned silence. She could tell that he was thinking about what to say next.

"When?"

"Thursday night." Tim started to smile, obviously not understanding why she was upset.

"I haven't seen her since." His face fell immediately.

"Oh." Emily turned her head towards the window again.

"Yeah."

Tim knew how pivotal this was to her. Since he'd known her, Emily had never initiated a kiss with anybody. She'd been kissed quite a few times, but she always complained that she felt like she _had_ to kiss back rather than actually _wanting _to. Tim tried to reassure her by telling her that when the right person came along she would definitely want to kiss back, but Emily was never convinced.

As a result, she became apathetic in all matters relating to love. While most kids her age were obsessing about who was hot and who hooked up with who, Emily was usually on her own somewhere, doing her own thing. She didn't understand what all the fuss was about so she stayed as far away from it as possible, which eventually resulted in her becoming socially isolated.

The kids in her grade couldn't relate to her, so they settled on ignoring her instead. Emily didn't mind much. She said she was fine as long as she had Tim. Although he was flattered, there were things Tim knew he would never be able to give her. Romantic love was one of them.

On some levels, Tim knew Emily better than she knew herself. He'd known she was gay long before she had even considered it possible. He never pushed it on her though, he knew it was something that she would have to figure out by herself.

About two years ago, Emily had finally confided in Tim and told him that she was pretty sure she wasn't straight. When he'd said 'I know', she had burst into tears of relief.

"I think she likes you." Emily turned her head abruptly towards Tim.

"I don't think you're getting this. She's been avoiding me since it happened, she obviously doesn't want to see me."

"Exactly." Emily looked at him helplessly for a few seconds before resting her head against the window again.

"I don't get girls." Tim smiled as he stood up and walked over to her.

"That's the beauty of it, Em. Nobody does," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. Emily felt a smile tug at her lips. Tim always knew how to cheer her up.

"Do you mind if I go for a run before I get back to work? The fresh air will clear my head."

"Go ahead. I may have over exaggerated how much your assistance is needed." Emily turned her head up to look at him."We actually don't need you at all, I already checked everybody in." Emily narrowed her eyes.

"So this was just a ploy to guilt trip me into telling you about Naomi?" Tim smiled at her cheekily.

"It worked didn't it?"

"Asshole," she mumbled as she punched him playfully in the stomach.

"Go run, maybe it'll clear your bitchiness too."

"Oh shut up," she said as she jumped off the windowsill and made her way over to her closet.

* * *

Naomi was lying in her bed with the covers over her head when she heard her door open and close quietly. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she was just dreaming. The bed dipped as someone (she was pretty sure who) sat down on it. _Fuck._ Naomi knew she was going to have to face the redhead sooner or later, but she was hoping it would be later than this.

"Emily…" she mumbled from underneath the covers.

"Nope, guess again." Naomi stiffened. She was expecting a husky voice, and she was more disappointed than she'd like to have been when the smooth voice rang out in the room. She sat up immediately only to come face to face with Effy.

"What the _fuck _are you doing in my room? On my bed no less," Naomi hissed.

"You haven't left your room since Thursday, I thought you might be hungry," she said as she held out a peanut-butter jelly sandwich.

"Wow, stalking much?"

Effy ignored her comment completely as picked up Naomi's hand and placed the sandwich in it.

"Er…thanks," she said as she tentatively bit into it.

Effy was wearing ripped skinny jeans and a loose, sparkly tank top. All Naomi could think about was how dangerously skinny she looked. She momentarily contemplated offering half of the sandwich to the girl, but she thought better of it when her stomach growled in complaint. She scarfed down the rest of it in a few bites. 4 days without eating had made her ravenous.

"What are you doing?" Naomi stopped licking her fingers and looked at the brunette.

"I'm eating," she enunciated through a stuffed mouth. Effy's cold blue eyes were not amused.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Naomi chewed a few more times before she swallowed.

"Excuse me, but remember how I don't actually know you? What makes you think you can just waltz into my room and expect me to – "

"Cut the bullshit, Naomi." Effy's hard voice cut through her own. Naomi closed her mouth and looked at the brunette more carefully.

"You're hiding. Like a scared little girl. Why don't you grow a pair and just face her? She doesn't bite." A mischievous smirk spread across her face as she mulled over her own words. "Well, maybe she does bite, but I doubt you're at that stage yet."

_Whoa. That came out of left field._ _Maybe I underestimated this girl._

"I'm not –"

"Don't lie." _What the fuck?_ Naomi straightened up a bit and thought about what to say. She had _definitely _underestimated Effy. She decided to change tactics, because feeding the brunette her usual bullshit-ridden spiel obviously wasn't going to work.

"I've been planning my escape," she said seriously, and for the first time since she'd known her, Effy laughed.

"Great job so far, Einstein." Naomi frowned at her to try to conceal the smile that was beginning to play on her lips.

"Thanks," she retorted sarcastically, "I probably would have been more successful if I had access to some form of modern technology other than a fucking wall-phone in the kitchen. I tried to sneak down there without anybody seeing me, but my ninja skills failed me so I ended up fleeing the scene. I'm pretty sure that the man who saw me now thinks there's a mental case scurrying around the hotel."

Effy threw her head back and let out a laugh that sounded more like a cackle than anything else.

"I'm glad you find my personal woes so entertaining," Naomi said as she glared at the brunette.

Effy brushed away a tear that had popped out of her eye under the strain of her laughter and immediately licked it off of her finger. It should have been creepy and slightly disturbing, but the brunette managed to make it look…sexy?

"Why are you here in the first place?" Naomi's eyes snapped back up to meet Effy's. She momentarily debated on whether to tell her the real reason why she was staying at the hotel. She decided to deflect the question instead.

"Why are _you _here?" Effy smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"Drugs."

"Drugs?"

"Yes, drugs. Your turn." Naomi sighed. _Here goes nothing._

"I got too caught up in things that don't really matter."

"And what does really matter?"

"The simple things."

"Which are?"

"Laughter. Happiness." Naomi shrugged noncommittally. "Love." _Oh my God, that was so cliché._Effy's smile was growing wider.

"Love, huh?" _Damn it. _Naomi awkwardly avoided eye contact until Effy finally spoke again.

"You know, we aren't all that different." Naomi couldn't help but smile at her words.

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that." After a few minutes of easy silence, the brunette stood up and stretched.

"Well, I'm off to do some highly important things."

Naomi scoffed, "Like shagging your boyfriend?"

Effy threw her a final smirk before she exited the room just as quietly as she'd entered. _Weird girl, _Naomi thought to herself as she slumped back down into her sheets, basking for a few more minutes in the safety and comfort of her room before deciding that it was time to face the music, or in this case, the Fitch.

* * *

Her breath was coming out in ragged pants. Her accelerated heart rate was making her head throb in complaint. Her arms were burning and sweat was glistening on her forehead. _Forty-eight. Forty-nine. _Her entire body cried out in pain as she lowered herself to the ground for her final push-up. _Fifty. _

Emily swiftly jumped back up to her feet and continued her run. Cold air rushed down her dry throat and filled up her lungs as she picked up the pace. Apart from her breathing and her heart hammering in her chest, all she could hear were her feet pattering against the frozen ground.

A smile stretched across her face as she reveled in the feeling of her entire body begging her to stop. She was reaching the point where her body would give up its useless battle and would finally allow endorphins to flood her system in a final, desperate attempt to put itself out of its misery.

This was why she loved sports. It reminded her that her body belonged to her, and she could make it do whatever her mind willed it to do. Pain was just a consequence of action, and in her mind it was well worth the temporary discomfort.

She broke out into a sprint when she saw the hotel come into view. Her arms and legs went numb as she pushed them over the edge. She concentrated on the cold wind rushing past her face and how invigorating it felt. She slowed down to a stop when she neared the front steps of the hotel. She bent over and rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.

"Jesus Christ, your dad wasn't kidding when he said 'don't get fit, get Fitch'."

Emily's head snapped up as the English accent break through her Zen. Naomi was standing on the front porch clutching a cardigan closed over her chest. For the first time since she'd met her, Emily wasn't excited to see the blond. She was in the zone, and she didn't want to be interrupted just yet. Instead, she straightened up and began walking around the back of the hotel.

To her slight annoyance, she heard Naomi's footsteps crunching on the gravel behind her.

"Emily wait, can we talk?" Naomi asked as she trotted up beside her.

"Yes. Later though. I'm kind of in the middle of something," Emily responded coolly as she walked passed the pseudo-garage that housed the VW bug and over to a shed that was camouflaged by some shrubs. It was where she stored gardening equipment and her workout bench.

She pulled open the old door roughly, hoping that Naomi would take the hint and leave her alone for a few more minutes.

She walked inside and headed straight for the workout bend. She tilted it to its maximum incline and positioned herself on it. She was hanging almost completely upside down when she saw Naomi's feet enter the shed. Her mind was finally clear, and she wasn't going to let Naomi clutter it up again so she closed her eyes, folded her arms over her chest, and lifted herself up to her knees.

_One. _She eased herself back down slowly and repeated her actions._ Two.__Three. _Her breathing began to speed up again_. Four.__ Five. _Her core started to beg for mercy but she smiled and continued her self-imposed pain.

"You couldn't spare a minute to talk to me because you were in the middle of doing this?" Naomi's disdain-filled voice broke her concentration. She let out a breath as she lowered her back onto the bench.

"You're very annoying," she uttered as she pulled her body back up to her knees.

"Yeah, well…you seem to inspire it in me." Emily smiled at the blonde's frankness. She lowered her body back down onto the bench and let out a sigh. Naomi obviously wasn't going to leave her alone. She reluctantly maneuvered herself off of the bench and stood to face the blonde.

"Okay, let's talk. Why have you avoided me for the past four days?" Emily asked as she folded her arms over her chest. The stance made her look angry, but she was really just trying to brace herself for whatever answer was coming her way.

"Um…" Naomi glanced down at her feet, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Are you kidding, Nai?" Emily asked in disbelief, "you're the one who wanted to talk! Now you're going to start pussy-footing around?" A smile started to pull on Naomi's lips at the redhead's choice of words. Emily rolled her eyes and turned towards the door.

"Forget it."

The blonde sprang into action before Emily had a chance to reach the door.

"Wait, Ems!" she grabbed Emily's wrist and turned her around forcefully. Emily stumbled slightly causing her body to press flush against the blonde's. She looked up at Naomi in confusion and was surprised to see that her blue eyes were almost completely covered by dilated pupils. Emily stepped back unsteadily and looked down at her feet, trying to hide the blush that she felt creeping over her face.

"Urhm...sorry," Naomi mumbled. She belatedly let got of Emily's wrist and straightened posture. Emily ran her hands through her ponytail a few times trying to distract herself from Naomi's proximity.

"Naomi," she said, trying to keep her voice even, "talk to me now or I'm going inside and taking a shower. I don't have time for this right now."

"Ok, just…" Naomi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. About everything."

Emily looked steadily at her for a few moments, debating on how to respond.

"Your sorry about _everything _that happened?" she asked, putting an emphasis on everything, hoping that Naomi would catch on to what she was really asking. The blonde nodded her head solemnly after a few seconds.

Emily rolled her head back, trying to abate the anger that was rising inside of her. When she trusted herself enough to speak without yelling, she straightened her head, squared her shoulders, and looked straight into Naomi's uncertain blue eyes.

"Well," her voice was lower and huskier than usual, "I'm not sorry, Naomi. Nor will I ever be. I kissed you because you're the most beautiful person I think I've ever met. You cover up that beauty with this tough and bitchy front, but I see right through it. And what I see takes my fucking breath away."

Emily paused to collect herself. She could feel tears beginning to sting her eyes but she didn't want to let Naomi see her cry, not like this. She took one final deep breath to steady herself, and looked back into Naomi's glistening eyes.

"I kissed you because I _wanted _to, and you will never, ever, hear me apologize for that."

_._

_._

_._

* * *

**Any comments? Questions? Concerns? Please, feel free to tell me about them ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

"I kissed you because I _wanted _to, and you will never, ever, hear me apologize for that." Emily looked up at me with fire in her eyes. She was challenging me. Whether she was challenging me to contradict her or agree with her, I'm not sure, but either way, being the coward that I am, I didn't rise to the challenge. I couldn't.

I know that she knew I wasn't going to answer her, but she didn't move. She just stood there _looking_ at me. Daring me. I could almost feel the passion rippling off of her. In that moment I understood where the need to dye her hair red had come from – it was just a reflection of her inner self.

After what felt like forever, Emily nodded her head slightly, as if to say, 'I knew you wouldn't take the bait'. My heart sank when an almost imperceptible flash of disappointment showed in her beautiful brown eyes before she turned and walked calmly out of the shed with her head held high.

I think she's the bravest person I've ever met.

* * *

I traipsed around dejectedly for the next week or so out of frustration at my own cowardice. I liked Emily, there was no denying it, but I still wasn't sure if it was a friendly like, or if I actually wanted to be with her.

Okay, that's rubbish. I obviously wanted to be with her - my dreams the past few nights had made that crystal clear. My only problem was that I didn't know how. Apart from the fact that I've never been with a girl, I've never actually shagged someone who I cared about. It's not that I've never liked anybody before, it's just that things get too complicated when you mix sex and emotions so I've always chosen to fuck instead of make love. It's just easier that way.

Anyway, Emily was still talking to me, but she was keeping me at a polite distance again instead of treating me like her friend. I'll be honest, it hurt more than I would have liked it to. I know that I had hurt her, but I couldn't help but feel like she'd given up on me.

I had taken to sitting in the music room for a few hours every day. It was the only place where I felt close to Emily again. Music was such a big part of her life, that I felt like I was with her when I was in there - I mean the Emily from Thanksgiving, not the Emily who was currently treating me as nothing more than a guest at her hotel.

I was sitting on the piano bench, running my fingers over the white keys when I felt someone else in the room. Although somewhere deep inside I hoped that it was Emily, this time I knew better.

"Could you please stop with the lurking? It freaks me the fuck out." I heard a silky laugh emanate from the other side of the room.

"I'm impressed," Effy said as she slinked up next to me and took a seat on the bench. I kept my focus on the keys of the piano. I didn't want her to see my eyes because I was afraid of what she would deduce from what she saw in them.

"Emily again, huh?" she asked as she nudged my shoulder. Okay, I had underestimated the extent of this girl's creepy intuition yet again. I reluctantly raised my eyes to meet hers.

"How did you know?" She smirked at me.

"I'm not blind."

Instead of giving regaling her with a witty and slightly biting remark, I looked back down at the piano. I just didn't have it in me today.

"What are you so afraid of?" she asked. Good question, Effy, I've been asking myself that for years now.

"I don't want to hurt her," I answered honestly.

"You already have."

Her bluntness cut right through to my heart. I felt tears start to sting my eyes.

"I know, and I haven't even really done anything yet. Imagine what I would do to her if we ever actually got involved and I cocked things up like I usually do."

"Emily's stronger than you think."

I sighed.

"It's not about being strong. I know she's strong, anybody with eyes can see that. It's about her…." I looked up at Effy as I struggled to find the word I was looking for.

"Her purity," she said.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. Effy raised an eyebrow at me - obviously my enthusiasm was uncalled for in her eyes. I decided to ignore her,"But not in the born-again-virgin kind of way. She's refreshingly honest about who she is and she has no qualms about letting other people see it. She's so pure. I don't know, she's just Emily."

"And you don't want to be responsible for making the light in her eyes go out, right?"

"Precisely."

"Then you don't get involved with her. Problem solved," she said as she slapped her hands down on her knees and stood up.

"W-wait, what?" I sputtered. Effy was already making her way towards the door when the urgency in my voice stopped her.

"Effy, please! Where are you going?" She stopped and turned around. The look in her eyes made me swallow nervously – I could already tell that I wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

"Look Naomi, I get that you're scared, and your reasons for being scared are noble, but at what point are you going to stop letting fear hold you back from being happy?" She paused to let her lips curve into her that fucking notorious smirk of hers.

"You know, you might be a little prickly around the edges, but you are far from being heartless. If you like her, stop being such a pussbag and go for it."

She already was retreating into the shadows of the hallway as her last words reached my ears,

"Until then, stop bitching about it."

Fuck you, Effy.

Why are you always right?

* * *

I moped about for a few more hours before I worked up the courage to go talk to Emily. I was going to tell her that I was sorry for being such a tit and that the kiss the other night was…nice. And that maybe I wanted to repeat it? Ok, so I didn't quite know what I was going to say, I just knew that I needed to talk to her. I wanted to go back to having the easy friendship (or whatever it was) we'd had before I mucked it all up by acting like a dosey cow.

I searched every room on the ground floor of the hotel before I ran into Tim. He was in the reception having a conversation with Cook, of all people. I sidled up to them in hopes that I could get Tim's attention without Cook noticing me. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on my side that afternoon.

"Blondie! How the hell are ya?" he practically screamed as he threw his arm around my shoulder.

"Hi. Listen, Tim –"

"Wher've you been these past few days, Naomi Campbell?" Cook interrupted, "I haven't had my hot black model fix in a way too long."

Tim raised his eyebrows at me, obviously not catching on to Cook's humor. I decided to gloss over the comment completely and just get to the point.

"Tim, do you know where Emily is?" I asked as I shrugged Cook's arm off my shoulder. Tim opened his mouth to speak, but Cook beat him to it.

"She's in her room."

Tim and I locked eyes before we both crossed our arms and faced Cook. The stupid grin on his face faded when he realized we were both practically shooting daggers at him.

"What did I say?"

"How do you know she's in her room?" Tim asked as he took a menacing step towards Cook. I was surprised that intimidating Tim was actually, well…intimidating. Poor Cook was reduced to looking helplessly between us both.

"What? I wasn't up there fu…er…getting down with her or anything. I saw her a little while ago, and she said she was heading up to her room to get changed for a meeting or something." Tim visibly relaxed at the mention of the meeting, which inadvertently gave Cook some confidence.

"Plus, I couldn't fuck her even if I wanted to, she's totally gay for Blondie."

That comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from yours truly.

* * *

I knocked on the attic door and heard a muffled 'come in'. In retrospect it was probably a 'hold on a minute', but hindsight is always 20/20, right? Either way I ripped open the door and marched determinately up the stairs. I was a girl on a mission.

The second my feet touched the landing, all of my determination went flying out the window as my eyes fell upon Emily, clad in nothing but a black lace bra and matching knickers. She had her back turned to me and was standing on her tiptoes, trying to reach something on the top shelf of her closet.

"What the hell should I wear?" she asked, her husky voice ringing out into the room.

I was too enthralled by the way her shoulder blades were flexing under her milky white skin to answer.

"Thanks Tim, you're really helpful," she said as she turned with a smile on her face.

In the split second before her smile dropped, I caught a glimpse of Emily through Tim's eyes. She was standing in front of me, almost naked, with a radiant smile on her face and looking completely at ease. I don't think I've ever envied anyone as much as I envied Tim in that moment. He got to see Emily with her guard down all the time.

She was breathtaking.

"Oh…" she said as a blush crept onto her face. We both stood there looking at each other for an awkwardly long time before I realized that I was the one intruding and should therefore offer some sort of an explanation.

I swallowed hard, and dragged my eyes away from hers.

"Ems…" I desperately tried to focus on something other than her fucking incredible body, but had to resort to closing my eyes instead before I could begin to form coherent thoughts. Adding to the distraction was my heart beating wildly against my ribcage. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself before I spoke again.

"I'm not sorry too," I said quietly, relaying her own words from the shed back to her. I hadn't planned on saying that, but the moment the words left my lips I knew that they were the truth. I wasn't sorry for kissing Emily back.

When there was no answer, I peeked one eye open to see what damage my cryptic words may have caused.

To an outsider, it would have seemed like she was looking at me just like she had been a few minutes ago, but I could see a radical change. Her brown eyes were smoldering. I found myself smiling at the fact that they always reflect exactly what she is feeling.

"Okay," she said softly as she looked down at her toes, trying to hide the smile that had stretched across her face. Her reaction gave me some of my confidence back.

"So, let's get an outfit put together for you, shall we?" I said as I took a step closer to her, causing her blush to intensify. She looked like she was about to say something when we both heard the door to her room open followed by heavy footsteps thudding up the wooden stairs.

We both watched as Tim climbed the last steps with his arm covering his face and stood awkwardly on the landing.

"Em? Are you…uh…decent?"Emily folded her arms over her chest, her smile still in place.

"What exactly do you think I might be doing up here?" Tim sighed in relief.

"Naomi was looking for you before and I thought that you two might –" he choked on his last words as he lowered his arm and saw me standing next to an almost naked Emily.

"Holy fucking shit!" he exclaimed as he slapped his hands over his eyes and turned his back to us.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know she, I mean, you were up here, Naomi. I just thought-" Emily's husky laugh broke through Tim's ramble.

"Tim, relax. She was just helping me choose an outfit."

"Well…fuck," he mumbled while shifting his weight awkwardly between his two feet, "they're all here so I came to tell you to hurry up." Emily's smile was instantly replaced with a look of worry.

"Shit! Already?" She darted over to her closet and pulled out an oversized button-down shirt and a pair of heels. "Could you tell them I'll just be a minute?"

"Will do," he said as he started making his way down the stairs.

When I looked back at Emily, she had the shirt on but all the buttons were open, and she was hopping on one foot trying to get her second heel on.

"Want some help?" I offered. She smiled quickly at me as she pulled her hair and bangs back into a messy ponytail. My eyes traveled down to watch her firm stomach as she did so. All that excursive sure had paid off.

"No thanks, perv. I'm good." My eyes snapped back to her own amused ones. I mouthed an apology as she zipped by me, making a beeline for the stairs.

It took me a few seconds to spring into action and follow her lead. By the time I reached the landing, she was nowhere to be seen.

I had forgotten that Emily Fitch was a fucking purebred racehorse.

I took the stairs down two at a time to try to catch up with her. She was forgetting something, something essential, and I needed to tell her before it was too late. I called after her, but she was _way _the fuck ahead of me.

I didn't catch up to her until I reached the ground floor, and even then it had nothing to do with the speed at which I descended the stairs. She was standing outside the living room next to the reception where I could hear the low murmur of voices. She looked so deep in thought that I almost felt bad for interrupting her.

Almost.

"Emily," I whispered loudly. She turned to look at me with confusion in her eyes.

"Sorry Nai, but this really isn't the best time. This meeting is really - "

"Pants," I interrupted, "You forgot your pants!"

Emily's eyes widened as she looked down at her bare legs. The now-buttoned shirt was hanging a few inches below her bum, and although her small frame was pretty much swallowed up by the shirt, it was hardly appropriate for what I assumed to be an important business meeting.

"Shit, I think I did," she said as she stared down at her legs. I had to consciously stop myself from wrapping her up in a hug as she did that.

She just looked so little, and cute, and adorable, and…

"Em, let's go, they're waiting for you!" Tim scolded as he appeared out of fucking nowhere, grabbed her hand, and started leading her into the room.

She looked back up at me with the most endearing mixture of helplessness and defeat etched on her face as she staggered backwards towards her soon to be pantless meeting of doom.

I smiled sadly at her and shook my head.

Emily Fitch, I hope for your sake that the people in your meeting like redheads as much as I do.

.

.

* * *

**Happy festivities to you all! **

**=)**


	16. Chapter 16

**My apologies for the ridiculously long delay on this one...life is a bit hectic at the moment. **

* * *

Emily stumbled backwards into the room. When Tim finally let go, her hands flew to the end of her shirt in a futile attempt to pull it down further. She looked up at Naomi, who was looking in from the hallway, and searched her eyes for some form of assistance. Naomi only shook her head and smiled apologetically at her. _Well…fuck, _she thought as Tim addressed the group behind her.

"Gentlemen, I present to you the lovely Emily Fitch." Tim and Emily turned to face each other at the same time. He smiled at her kindly until his eyes fell to her legs, then they almost bugged out of his head. Emily smiled stiffly back at him and walked to the center of the room, facing her audience.

"Good afternoon," she said warmly as she plastered a smile on her face, "to what do I owe you all the pleasure?" She ignored the rapid beating of her heart and tried to reason away the heat she could feel on her face. There was no use in fretting over her wardrobe malfunction at that point, so she decided to hold her head up high and act like her outfit was _meant _to be worn without pants. She was, after all, a fucking Fitch. She could pull off any outfit she wanted to.

The meeting consisted of four businessmen who used to get together and talk about finance and markets with her father. She hadn't seen them in a few years, but they had called and asked if they could meet with her a few weeks ago. The reasons for having the meeting had been vague, but Emily had agreed to it regardless.

"Emily, my dear, look how you've grown!" A man with elaborately coifed hair and close-set eyes made his way over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Emily fought the urge to stiffen up. She didn't take kindly to being patronized, but she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Nice to see you again, Mr…"

"Brackman," he finished for her. She looked at him steadily for a moment and then let her eyes roam the room. The three other men were seated around the largest table in the room. They all looked to be in their mid-fifties, and were sporting expensive-looking suits and ties. Their faces looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place them - she had been much younger and uninterested in the business the last time she'd seen them.

"Please, have a seat Miss Fitch," Mr. Brackman said as he motioned to a seat at the table. Emily nodded slightly and made her way over to the table. She noted that all of the men were looking at her with slightly too much discernable eagerness in their eyes as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

Mr. Brackman, who was now sitting across from her leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, "We've arranged this meeting to make you an offer you can't refuse." Emily raised her eyebrows,

"Oh really? And what exactly is that?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs.

The man to her right leaned toward her and said, "Have a little faith, honey," as he laid his hand on her arm. Emily looked down at his fat fingers resting on her arm lightly. She was surprised to see so much hair on them. She shuddered internally as she moved her arm out from under their grasp.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed. The man straightened up and gave her a tight smile. She knew she'd hurt his ego, or male bravado, or whatever you call it, and couldn't help but smile as she remembered Naomi muttering something about easily bruised egos being directly related to the size of one's manhood.

She chanced a glance at the entrance of the room and saw Naomi leaning against the doorframe, her blue eyes focused intently on her. She felt her smile widen as she thought back to the way Naomi had scrunched up her face after she said 'manhood', and the unfounded happiness she'd felt in the pit of her stomach as the blonde did so.

"Miss Fitch?" Emily turned her attention back to the table, smile still in place. "I wasn't aware that we had said anything humorous, is there something you'd like to share?" Mr. Brackman asked with an air of superiority.

That really rubbed Emily the wrong way. This was _her _hotel, and she wasn't about to let herself be treated with any less respect than she deserved.

"Mr. Brackman –"

"Please, call me Richard." _Dick Brackman,_ she thought to herself as shefelt another smile tug at her lips,_ how fitting. _

"Of course, Richard. You must understand that I can't sit around all day and eat bon-bons with my father's old friends…" she said, adopting the same air of superiority that these men seemed to have coined.

She watched with satisfaction as Dick's smile faltered and looked to the man on his right. The man, short, fat and bald, took this as a cue and leaned towards Emily. She couldn't help but think that they had rehearsed this.

"I appreciate your work ethic and honesty, Miss Fitch," he said, with an emphasis on 'Fitch', "and for that I will extend to you the same respect."

Emily's only answer was to look at him expectantly. She wasn't entirely surprised when he hesitated and looked back to Dick for confirmation. Dick nodded once and the man turned his attention back to Emily.

"We'd like to buy your hotel." Emily raised her eyebrows slightly and looked back at Dick. He took this has his cue and launched into all the reasons why it would benefit Emily to sell the hotel.

She watched Dick steadily as he prattled on breathlessly. She heard things like "it would allow you to have a normal life again", and "with our generous offer, you'll be set for life". Emily let him ramble, was slightly amused even, until he said, "it's what your parents would have wanted". That snapped her back to attention. These men knew nothing about what her parents would have wanted.

"How much?" she asked with a firm tone, which resulted in Dick halting his blathering abruptly. He took a few seconds to recover and then started up again.

"It would be enough to let you live gallantly for the rest of -"

"How. Much." Emily repeated herself, more forcefully this time. Dick's eyes shifted between the other men at the table.

"3 million," he said, and then launched into another string of reasons why it was the best deal of her life and she would be foolish to pass it up.

Emily wasn't listening though - she was already planning her next step. She had always hated making other people feel like fools by throwing their own lies back in their face, but she had reluctantly learned that sometimes it was necessary. As she watched Dick spew lie after lie at her, she begrudgingly admitted to herself that this was one of those times.

When she heard Dick say, "You have nothing to lose," she stood up immediately, leaned her fists on the table, and looked deep into his close-set eyes.

"On the contrary, _Dick," _she smiled wickedly whenhe flinched at the nickname, "I have everything to lose."

She held up her hand when he started to speak again, effectively silencing him. It would take a braver man than Dick to interrupt her when she was getting visibly angry.

"The appraiser came by a few days ago," she paused to watch the men's faces as this little tid-bit sank in, "he valued the property alone at 2.6 million." She took time to look into each set of eyes looking guiltily at her.

"Now, I may not be a college graduate, but I do know that the business that is the hotel is worth well over $400,000. What are your excuses for not knowing that?" It was a rhetorical question, but she still looked at the four men expectantly for a few seconds.

"Right. So you all thought you'd strike a 'deal' with the naive daughter of your dead friend," she said pointedly, allowing silence to ring out in the room. Dick was fidgeting and turning red in the face, and the other men were looking down ashamedly. She rolled her eyes at their predictability.

"Well gentlemen, while I appreciate the offer, I think it's blatantly obvious that I am going to have to decline." She walked confidently over to Dick and put her hand on his shoulder.

"It was nice seeing you all again, but I think it's time that you all got the _fuck _out of my hotel." She squeezed Dick's shoulder for emphasis and then headed towards the open entrance of the room where Naomi was still standing, mouth agape.

Emily smiled sweetly at the blonde before turning back towards the men and adding,

"And if any of you ever dare step foot on this property again, I will take it upon myself to make you regret it for the rest of your lives." Then she strode out of the room without so much as a glance back at them.

* * *

It took Naomi a few moments to process what she had just seen before she finally managed to pick her jaw up off the ground and follow Emily. The redhead was seated in the music room, facing one of the room's many windows when Naomi caught up to her.

She wasn't sure what state of mind Emily was in, so she decided to approach cautiously.

"Alright Ems?" she asked quietly.

"Fine. Thanks," Emily answered in a voice devoid of emotion. Naomi stepped closer to her back in hopes of catching a glimpse of her face, but when she was about to put her hand on her shoulder, the redhead popped up out of her chair.

"Fuck _them," _Emily said heatedly, causing Naomi to jump back in surprise, "I can't believe they have the gall to come here and try to screw over their dead friend's daughter!" She started pacing back and forth, hands running through her hair, face flushed, while Naomi looked on helplessly.

"How could anybody be that cruel and…heartless?" Emily asked as she stopped pacing and looked up at Naomi with a broken expression in her eyes. It was the broken expression that Naomi feared she might one day cause, the expression that she had never wanted to see in the redhead's eyes.

Without thinking Naomi stepped forward and pulled Emily into a tight hug. At first the redhead resisted, mumbling complaints, but soon she relaxed into it.

"Em, they're just a bunch of wankers," Naomi said as she brushed Emily's fringe to the side and kissed her temple, "they've lost track of themselves and are acting like twats out of hopelessness, got it?" She felt Emily nod into the crook of her neck.

"Besides," Naomi pulled back to look at Emily's glistening eyes, "They'll definitely think twice before they try to pull another stunt like that. Judging by the looks on their faces when you left the room, you can bet they feel like right arseholes for what they tried to do." When a small smile pulled at Emily's lips, Naomi felt the tightness in her chest ease.

"There's my girl," Naomi said as she further lifted Emily's chin with her fingers. The redhead's smile grew when Naomi brushed away a stray tear with her thumb.

"Thanks Naoms," she mumbled as she looked down at the ground, "sorry for –"

"Don't you dare apologize, Fitch," Naomi interrupted. Emily's eyes snapped back to hers. They were filled with so much emotion that a few days ago Naomi knew she would have been afraid of the implications those brown eyes held. But at that moment? She was just happy to see that the light in her redhead's eyes was back.

.

.

* * *

**Aii, I know this is short and a bit shit, but things will be picking up in the next chapter on the Naomily front. **

**Thanks for bearing with me!**


	17. Chapter 17

**I thought I should warn you that things, er, heat up a bit in this chapter. It's not much, but I think I've reached a point in the story where these things are no longer avoidable. **

**Anyway, enjoy, and thanks for reading!**

* * *

Naomi woke up with a start. She blinked her eyes several times as she tried to remember her dreams only to find that her mind was totally blank. When she rolled over onto her back hoping that maybe a change of position would refresh her memory, she realized her hand had found its way into her underwear at some point during the night. It was then that she noticed the wetness enveloping her fingers.

She blinked a few more times, trying harder to remember her obviously good dreams. Her concentration was broken by a muffled scraping noise, which she immediately recognized as the sound that had broken her slumber.

Naomi closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath as she teetered in between the dream world and the real world. As she let out her breath, she noticed that something was off.

Her sheets smelled different.

She turned her head into the pillow and inhaled deeply again, feeling a flutter in her stomach as she did so. The smell was vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it. It smelled sweet, like berries. And fresh. Yes. It smelled oh, so fresh.

She closed her eyes and smiled as she buried her face deeper into the pillow. Her hand, still in her underwear, began moving again on its own accord as she continued to breathe in the intoxicating scent.

Her mouth parted slightly after a few minutes and her breath started coming out in short pants as waves of pleasure began to reverberate throughout her body. Her hand increased its speed as she felt herself coming closer and closer to the edge.

Then two things happened almost simultaneously: she heard that fucking dull scraping sound again, and she recognized the smell that was serving as the catalyst to her arousal.

The berries, the freshness.

It was Emily.

She ripped her hand out of her underwear and shot bolt upright in the bed. The mixture of grogginess and excitement flowing in her bloodstream only added to her confusion as she looked around the room and realized it wasn't hers.

_What the fuck?_

It was only when her eyes fell upon the familiar poster of that woman - Allison Mosshart - that she realized she was in Emily's room. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage as she slowly lifted up the covers next to her and peered underneath them.

Empty.

_Thank fucking Christ for that._

Her sigh of relief was interrupted, yet again, by that _fucking _scraping sound. Only this time it was louder. She threw the covers off of herself in frustration and followed the noise until she reached the window. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped opened when she registered what she was seeing.

White. Everything was white.

The land surrounding the hotel was covered in a blanket of powdery snow. The pine trees, the rolling hills, everything looked like it had an enticing white duvet thrown over it. The only time Naomi had seen snow like this was in photos.

The now-familiar scraping sound brought the blonde out of her reverie, so she narrowed her eyes and scanned the grounds of the hotel in search of the cause. She felt an inexplicable giddiness settle in her stomach when she finally found the culprit.

Hunched over in the long driveway of the hotel, with a shovel in hand and scooping heaps of snow over her shoulder, was none other than Emily Fitch herself. She was bundled up wearing a red jacket, grey snow pants, and a warm-looking white knit hat with a cotton ball bopping up and down on the top. A smile spread across her face as she observed the redhead. Even from the 5th floor of the hotel Emily looked adorable.

Her smile was quickly replaced a growing blush when she remembered what she had been doing just minutes before in that same adorable girl's bed. She reluctantly backed away from the window as the previous night's events slowly started to come back to her.

* * *

"_And then he said, 'Naomikins, I been thinkin'…you should see more cock.'". Emily's giggles filled the room as Naomi recounted her story._

"_Oh Goddd…he didn't say that! He couldn't be that stupid!" Naomi smiled at the redhead's incredulity._

"_I'm telling you Em, this is verbatim." _

_Both girls were lying on the floor, head-to-toe in Emily's room listening to the redhead's ipod on shuffle and chatting aimlessly about pretty much anything. Naomi had insisted Emily take the rest of the day off after her meeting, and with Tim's blessing, she had finally reluctantly agreed. _

_ "Well…did it work?" asked the redhead after she had recovered from her laughter._

_ "Did what work?"_

_ "His attempts at seduction, did they work?" Naomi sat up and looked down at Emily._

_ "You're shitting me, right?" The redhead sat up, copying Naomi's movements, and smiled at her uncertainly._

_ "No…well, I mean –"_

_ "Bloody hell Ems, I'm glad to see you think so highly of me," Naomi interrupted as she playfully nudged Emily's shoulder._

_ "Sorry, it's just, well, everyone who knows who you are back in England seems to think that you're a wild child." _

_ Naomi scoffed, _

"_Is that what you think?" Her tone was playful, but she honestly did want to know what Emily thought of her, and was surprised to find that she hoped the redhead's opinion of her was a good one. _

_Emily bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. After a few moments, her brown eyes, laced with determination and conviction, looked up into Naomi's blue ones._

"_To be honest, I don't really care how you were back in England." Naomi didn't know whether insulted or not, but Emily continued before she had a chance to decide._

"_Sure, you're a blonde bombshell and all, but there's so much more to you than that." Emily paused, seemingly collecting her thoughts and then added, "I just wish you'd believe it, then maybe you wouldn't need to act so crazy." _

_Naomi swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She didn't know why she was getting emotional, but she quickly hid it by shaking her head and forcing a smile._

"_So you think I'm a bombshell, eh?" Naomi watched in amusement as a blush spread across Emily's normally white skin._

"_I, um, that's not what-" _

"_It's alright Ems," Naomi said as she patted the redhead's hand, "I tend to have that effect on people."_

"_Oh my God Naomi, get over yourself," the redhead retorted as rolled her eyes and stood up. Naomi watched as Emily walked over to her ipod dock and turned up the volume._

"_Please, Emily, spare my poor ears, they can only take so much shit music in one day before they start bleeding."_

_Emily turned towards Naomi and raised her finger to her lips, silently asking Naomi to pipe down._

"_Emil-"_

"_Shh, just listen to the lyrics," she said as she turned up the volume even more._

_Naomi clicked her tongue in frustration but did as she was told when she saw the seriousness in Emily's eyes. She felt her heart speed up as she concentrated on the words flowing out of the speakers and realized that Emily was trying to tell her something._

_There is love in your body but you can't hold it in__  
__It pours from your eyes and it spills from your skin__  
__The tenderest touch leaves the darkest of marks, _

_and the kindest of kisses break the hardest of hearts_

_

* * *

_

Naomi rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. She was sitting on the edge of Emily's bed trying to properly wake herself up. _I need coffee,_ she thought as she pulled on the jeans she'd been wearing the night before and made to leave the room.

She froze in her tracks just as she reached the landing of the steps, looked down at her pants, and then turned back towards the room. A frown spread across her face when she tried to remember if she had fallen asleep with her pants on or not. She mentally scolded herself as she shook her head and continued her descent down towards the kitchen. Of course she had taken them off before she fell asleep, how else would they have ended up neatly folded at the foot of the bed?

* * *

_ "I've been wondering…"_

_ "Yeah?"_

_ "What do lesbians do?" The words tumbled out of Naomi's mouth before she had a chance to think of what she was actually asking. Emily had averted her eyes and was now laughing embarrassedly. _

_ "…In bed I mean," she added hastily, trying to salvage the unsalvageable. Emily's eyes snapped to hers._

_ "I know what you mean," she said before glancing down at her hands self-consciously, "…how would I know?" _

_Naomi felt her heart swell at Emily's quiet words._

_ "You mean, you've never…"_

_ "No I've never!" Emily exclaimed before falling into a fit of giggles. _

Emily is a virgin, _Naomi thought to herself as she laughed along with the redhead. _

_When their giggles died down and Emily's sparkling brown eyes met hers, she tried not to think about why that simple fact made her so unabashedly happy._

_

* * *

_

"Rough night?"

Naomi was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the steaming cup of coffee in her hands when Tim's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"More of a rough morning," she mumbled as she leaned forward and blew into the cup.

"Yeah, I think Em would have to agree with you." The mention of the redhead's name made Naomi's ears perk up instantly.

"Why's that?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant as she took a tentative sip of the steaming liquid.

"She's been out there shoveling since the crack of dawn." Naomi cringed at his words as she felt a wave of guilt wash over her. She hadn't even considered the fact that while she was in Emily's warm bed doing the unspeakable and getting irritated over being interrupted, the redhead was outside working her little behind off.

"Can't you guys like…pay for someone to do that or something?" Naomi asked, trying to disguise the edge in her voice.

"The guy who usually plows called me yesterday to say that he had retired." Naomi felt her face start to heat up in anger.

"He couldn't have informed you of that fact, oh I don't know, maybe the day _after _it snowed?"

"Murphy's law, I guess," Tim said with a shrug.

Naomi felt herself reaching her boiling point over Tim's lackadaisical attitude. She was about to cut him down to size when another voice rang out in the room.

"Yeah, that's easy to say when you aren't the one shoveling."

Both Tim and Naomi's heads snapped in the direction of the husky voice that had snuck its way into their conversation.

Emily drifted into the kitchen with a smug smile on her face, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and made her way over to the table where Naomi was sitting.

"Tim, if it snows again, you're going to be the one doing the shoveling while I sit inside and try to find a new plowman," she said as she looked at Naomi with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"What? No, that's not fair –"

"You're bigger and stronger than she is which means you'll get it done faster and with less effort. What about that isn't fair?" Naomi interrupted.

Emily's eyes widened slightly in disbelief before they quickly turned back to amusement when Tim grumbled a few more complaints and slinked out of the kitchen.

"Tosser," Naomi mumbled under her breath before taking another sip of her coffee.

"Thanks Nai, but I _can _take care of myself you know", Emily said as she bit into her apple. Her tone was neutral, indicating that she wasn't irritated; she was merely stating a fact.

Naomi raised her eyes and allowed herself to really look at the redhead for the first time that morning. Her bangs were slightly disheveled, falling effortlessly on her forehead, and her button nose was still red from the cold. She was wearing a skintight blue shirt that clung to her impeccable body, and she had tucked her knee into her chest, which showed that she had on an equally tight pair of black leggings. 'Fuck' was the only word that came to mind as Naomi's gaze roamed over her body.

She forced her eyes back down to the cup in her hands when she realized that she was perving, and in a desperate attempt to make conversation said,

"I woke up with no pants on this morning."

Emily let out a brief chuckle before reaching across the table and laying her hand gently on Naomi's.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," she said somberly.

Naomi scoffed and shook Emily's hand off when she saw the amusement sparkling in her brown eyes.

"I'm serious Em, I don't remember taking them off." A look of concern grazed the redhead's features,

"You mean you don't remember…" she trailed off, brown eyes searching her own. Naomi felt her heart start to hammer in her chest. _Did something happen last night? What the fuck? Why don't I remember? Did we…no, we couldn't have… _The last thing the blonde could remember was lying on Emily's bed facing the redhead and talking about –

Emily's laughter cut through Naomi's mini panic attack.

"My God Naomi, calm down, I'm kidding! After you fell asleep you kept mumbling something about your jeans bothering you so I took them off for you." Naomi stared at Emily with wide eyes as the redhead coolly raised the apple to her mouth to take another bite.

She seemed to realize something though, and froze with her mouth open as her eyes flashed guilty over to Naomi.

"Is that weird?" she asked as she looked at Naomi worriedly. Before Naomi could answer, Emily was up on her feet pacing back and forth.

"Shit. Fuck! That is weird isn't it?" Naomi opened her mouth to reply but Emily beat her to it.

"Of course it's fucking weird." The redhead stopped and turned abruptly to Naomi,

"I'm sorry, I just, I don't really have friends my own age so I don't know the proper etiquette for some things and sometimes I do things that I think seem ok but normal people see as totally fucking _not _okay and-"

"Emily," Naomi said loud enough to get the redhead's attention, "chill the fuck out, yeah? It's not weird, it was just unexpected is all." Her words seemed to calm Emily down, and soon an apologetic smile was tugging at her lips.

"Ok, good. I just don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable around me, especially because of my…" Emily trailed off and looked down at her feet in an attempt to hide the growing blush on her face.

"Gayness?" Naomi finished for her causing the redhead to look back up uncertainly. Naomi sighed and smiled kindly at the girl in front of her.

"Emily, it's fine, I don't care that you're gay, and it doesn't make me feel uncomfortable, okay?" _Quite the opposite actually, _she added mentally as Emily nodded her head slowly and returned to her seat at the table.

"I like you, Naomi," Emily grimaced at her own words and quickly elaborated, "I mean, I consider you my friend and I don't want to cock it up by being inappropriate or whatever."

_Does 'inappropriate or whatever' mean she doesn't see me as anything more than a friend?_ Naomi felt her stomach sink at Emily's words but tried to ignore it by plastering a smile on her face and forcing herself to speak.

"Don't worry about it, you're perfect just the way you are." Naomi squeezed her eyes shut and mentally smacked herself for being so _fucking _obvious. Before she could open her eyes she heard Tim's voice float into the kitchen.

"Emily, reception. Now." Naomi felt a breeze on her face as Emily zipped by her on the way to the reception. She hated her body for reacting the way it did to the smell that she now recognized as distinctly Emily.

Sighing heavily, Naomi stood up and decided to go back to her room.

She had some unfinished business to attend to.

.

.

* * *

**I hope that was o.k.! **

**More Naomily in the next chapter, and I think I'm going to write it from Naomi's POV. **

**Questions, concerns, complaints? You know what to do ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

**This is part one of the chapter. It's been a while since I uploaded, so I thought it would be better to get _something_ up rather than nothing at all. **

**Also, when you get a chance you should check out Kiwi99's "That Was Eventful"...it's absolutely amazing so far!**

**Ok, on with the reading.**

* * *

I had to sit down when the truth sank in. I know that it had been staring me in the face for a while, but finally admitting it to myself made my legs give out.

_I like Emily_.

_A-fucking-lot. _

Her red hair, her button nose, her rosy lips, her round bum (I've obviously been sneaking a few too many glances), and her eyes. Those _fucking _beautiful brown eyes that look into me and really _see. _I mean, how could I _not _like her? She's just, right. She fits.

Want to know what the craziest thing of all is? When it finally hit me - the fact that the butterflies I felt in my stomach every time I saw her meant more than just friendly admiration – I was surprised to find that her being a girl really had nothing to do with the loss of strength in my legs.

I was surprised because I used to scrunch up my nose when people would talk about lesbians and lesbian sex and all that. I could never picture myself having sex with another girl, and I really didn't see the point. I mean, I already have tits and fanny, why would I want to touch somebody else's? I know. My ignorance is blinding, yada yada, but that was how I felt.

Until Emily that is.

I don't care that she's a girl. In fact, _like _that she's a girl. She's so much gentler, and so much more sensitive than any guy I've met. Actually, fuck that. It has nothing to do with gender. Emily is just in a league of her own when it comes to her heart. Her ability to empathize and have compassion in almost all situations still amazes me, scares me even.

And it's that fear, that fucking_ fear_ of Emily's flawlessness that wiped out my legs when I realized I liked her.

I'm lying in my bed, watching as the rising rays of sunshine creep up my legs. I didn't bother to close the shades last night, being as I got in pretty late. Or early, if you're picky like that.

I spread my fingers out across my thighs and watch as the morning light slowly creeps over them. A sigh escapes my mouth as I study them closely.

I've been in America for a while now, long enough that I've started to incorporate certain colloquialisms in my everyday vocabulary. I'm saying this as a warning because I don't know how else to phrase what happened last night except by saying that shit really hit the fan.

Everything was going fine, great even. We, Emily and I, had settled into a nice little routine during the past weeks. She'd pop into the kitchen and say good morning to me when I had just woken up and was drinking my coffee. She knows me well enough to not start any conversation with me until at least an hour after my second coffee, so she'd just smile brightly and be off to do whatever it is she does around the hotel.

The next time I would see her was around four o'clock. We would hang out in the music room, or the library, or go for a walk – usually laughing about stupid things and enjoying each other's company. I've learned a lot of things about Emily during all the time I've spent with her, one thing being that once the ball gets rolling, she can be _hilarious._ I can't remember ever laughing as hard or as much as when I'm with her.

Every night we would have dinner together (she always cooked after having to scrape my failed attempt at a grilled cheese off of a pan a few weeks ago). We would chat amicably, and many times even be joined by Effy and Cook. The two of them, once you get to know them really aren't that bad.

Well, Cook is still a pig, but it's almost endearing.

_Almost._

And while at first I thought Effy's behavior was disturbing, I've come to see that it's just how she is. I'll even go as far as to say that I consider her my friend.

Anyway, when we would finish dinner, my favorite part of the day would ensue. Emily and I would say our goodnights and always go back up to her room to hang out, just the two of us.

Nothing ever _happened, _but not because I wasn't thinking about it. I always tried to be subtle as my eyes lingered on the soft skin at the nape or her neck, or her delicately strong hands, or her moist lips, or…well you get the idea. Everything about her is just so inviting.

She would always have her shit music playing softly in the background while we sat on her bed and talked or fucked around otherwise. And by 'fuck around' I mean we would play a board game or something. Yes, a _board _game.

I told you I liked her.

On one particular night when we were playing Jenga (Emily is a machine at Jenga), I lost simply because my hands were shaking so badly. I don't know if she realized what she was doing, but we were sitting side by side on her floor and whenever she would lean in to pull a block out of the tower, her _bare _thigh would rub up against mine.

So fucking unfair.

O.k., enough of that. I'll fast forward to the shit hitting the fan part, yeah? As I've already said, everything was going great.

Until yesterday.

I woke up at around 9:30, and decided to have a quick shower before I went downstairs. Apparently, 9:30 is rush hour at this hotel because both bathrooms were occupied. Yes, we have _shared _bathrooms – two per floor to be exact. Gross, I know. Obviously the hippy in Gina was out to play when she chose this place as my exile. But hey, the pros definitely outweigh the cons.

I decided to scoot up to the third floor and hijack a bathroom there because, come on, I'm Naomi Campbell, I don't wait for shit.

I made my way down to the kitchen after taking an unnecessarily long shower just to smite whoever was waiting, and an hour and three coffees later I was feeling top-notch. The only problem was that Emily had yet to show.

Now, I'm not one of those people who becomes a clingy stalker once they start liking someone (at least I don't think I am), but something about Emily's lack of appearance made me go look for her. Because she _always _comes to see me in the morning.

After searching fucking _everywhere _for her, I finally found her sitting on the front steps of the hotel, freezing her poor little bum off.

"Emily, what the fuck, you're going to catch a cold," I scolded as I approached her front behind. The moment I registered the appearance of her hunched shoulders, I knew something was wrong and changed my tone accordingly.

"You alright?" I asked as I sat down next to her. She wiped at her cheeks before turning to me and forcing a smile.

"Yeah, just a little…off I guess," she said, her voice cracking on the last word.

I laughed.

I couldn't help it.

Even if she wasn't crying, the sadness in her eyes was so evident that I'm sure even a blind person could see it.

She frowned when she heard my laughter, and I of course immediately felt guilty. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head,

"Sorry Ems, you're just a really horrible liar."

I knew I was forgiven when I felt her smile against my neck.

* * *

I ended up having to practically get down on my knees and beg Emily to take the day off so that we could do something fun. However, the blow to my personal pride was worth it when she finally agreed.

Operation Cheer Emily Up was in full effect.

Apparently, Vermont is one of the snowiest states in the U.S.A. I don't actually know that for a fact, but it must be true, because it snows a _shitload _here. After the initial excitement of it wore off, I realized that snow was only good for getting into your boots, up your sleeves, and occasionally down your back.

So naturally, when Emily suggested we go sledding, my knee-jerk reaction was to ask her if she'd lost her damn mind, but again, I _really _like her and I hate seeing her be sad so I agreed.

Emily lent me a pair of her ski pants (which ended up being fucking useless) and a winter jacket before we headed off into the white abyss with our sleds dragging behind us. We waded through the snow for what felt like fucking ages before we came to a clearing.

I was so concentrated on the way that my ski pants rode up just enough to allow buckets of snow into my boots that I didn't realize Emily had stopped walking until I bumped into her hard enough to make her fall face first into the snow.

"Shit, Ems, sorry I didn't see you there." I apologized feebly, trying to keep the laughter from bubbling up in my throat while concentrating on keeping a straight face. Emily flailed about a bit before rolling over in the snow and looking up at me.

"Any chance you could give me a hand?" she asked, the frustration evident in her voice.

I lost it when I glanced down at her and saw the snow caked onto her face. It was possibly the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I tilted my head back and let the laughter rip out of me.

Emily squirmed around trying to get up, but the snow was too deep for her to be able to reach the ground to push off of from her vertical position, so she ended up looking like a turtle on its back.

Tears began to flow down my cheeks as I doubled over and gripped me sides.

"Ha. Ha. You think that's funny, Campbell?" I heard Emily say from her place in the snow. I nodded my head as I wiped the tears out of my eyes, trying to bring myself under control.

"I'm sor-"

_Thwap. _

I felt the cold slap of a snowball on my face before I could utter out the rest of my apology. It took me by such a surprise that I fell backward onto my butt. I wiped the snow off of my face and eyed a now upright Emily in disbelief.

She was sporting a smug smile and had her hand on her hip. I would have been furious at anybody else, but in this case I was just glad to see that the sadness in her eyes had been replaced by a mischievous glint.

"You cow," I said loudly as I quickly packed some snow into a round-ish shape and threw it at her. She didn't even flinch as it flew past her head.

"Fuck," I muttered as I packed another snowball and threw it again. This time it landed a few inches in front of her feet. I groaned and tried to get up, but the snow, the god damn fucking snow was too deep for me to reach the ground and push off with my arms, so I ended up rocking from side to side futilely.

_Congruity detected, _I regretfully thought to myself as I glanced up at Emily and saw that she had covered her mouth with her hand and was trying not to laugh.

"Okay, okay, I get it," I said as I felt a blush spread over my cheeks, "karma is a bitch. Now can you please help me up so we can get on with the sledding?"

"Sorry Nai, but watching you try to get up is more fun than sledding ever could be."

"Well as long as you're enjoying yourself," I muttered as she finally let herself laugh.

She pulled herself together after far too long and waded over to me with an outstretched hand. I scowled at her as I grabbed it and let her pull me to me feet.

"Shall we?" she asked as she offered me her arm. My scowl was replaced by a growing smile pathetically quickly as I looped my arm through hers and continued our trek.

"How much further," I asked after a few minutes, "my legs are killing me."

Emily smiled and shook her head.

"We're almost there, the hill is just after this clearing."

"Thank fuck for that."

* * *

They say you learn something new everyday. Well, yesterday I learned that Emily is the biggest under-exaggerator I've ever met. When we reached the edge of the clearing, I innocently asked her where the hill was. She looked at me sideways trying to figure out if I was serious or not and then motioned toward our feet. I looked down, snorted, and told her to stop shitting about.

"I'm serious Nai, this is the hill."

"Emily. This is a fucking cliff. Nobody in their right mind would sled down this thing unless they wanted to kill –"

Honestly, I wasn't even that surprised when she tucked the sled under her chest and threw herself haphazardly down the 60-degree incline. I swear, the combination of stubbornness and fearlessness that is Emily Fitch will be the end of her someday.

When she reached the bottom of Mount Everest, she quickly stood up and beckoned me down.

"Come on Nai!" she yelled.

I could almost see her eyes roll when I gave her the finger.

"Naomi, come _on. _I promise, you'll be fine. It's worth it!"

_Oh the symbolism, _I thought as I sat on my sled and pushed myself over the summit of the hill. I quickly picked up speed and was careening down the hill at an alarming rate in a matter of seconds. I was utterly terrified, but it was the most exhilarating experience I've had to date.

Emily must have misjudged the speed I was coming at because I plowed into her before she had time to move out of the way.

"Fuck's sake," I cried out when our intertwined limbs finally tumbled to a stop. It was only when I heard her say 'whoops' in a voice that didn't sound sorry at all that I realized her body was pinned tightly under mine.

I shifted myself up onto my elbows and looked down at her smiling face and into her bright eyes. Her breath was puffing out in short pants against my face, and I couldn't help but chance a glance down to her rosy lips.

When my eyes met hers again, they were considerably darker, and I _swear _she was looking at me like she wanted me.

I didn't think as I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers.

My heart constricted in my chest painfully when I felt her stiffen underneath me. I jerked my head back immediately and look at her apologetically.

"Whoops," I whispered back to her, averting my eyes so that she couldn't see the tears of rejection stinging them.

I felt a pair of mitted hands snake behind my neck as I began to shift off of her, and before I knew it her lips were crashing forcefully into mine. It took me a second to react, but soon enough our lips were moving tandem.

The rest of the world faded into nothingness when I felt her tongue glide along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I instantly acquiesced and let out a muffled groan as her warm tongue slid against mine.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, kissing in the snow at the bottom of the hill, but when we finally broke away from each other, flushed and breathless, an unrelenting fire had been ignited in the pit of my stomach and at that moment I knew that Emily Fitch would always be a part of me.

.

.

* * *

**I hope you liked it! Part II will be up soon. **


	19. Chapter 18 pt II

**Sorry for the delay, but this was waay harder to write than I thought it'd be. I felt really awkward writing it, and I feel even more awkward posting it. Mad respect to those of you who can write this so...eloquently.**

**Smut/gettingjiggywithit/bowchickawowow warning**

* * *

If somebody had told me six months ago that the best day of my life would consist of snow, sledding, and kissing a girl, I probably would have laughed in their face. Yet there I was, frolicking through the snow like a five year old jacked up on sugar, and having the time of my fucking life. No drink or club or drug had ever even come close to making me feel as good as Emily was. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and in this case it came in the form of a snowstorm - or rather a snowpocalypse.

We had just reached the top of Mount Everest for the umpteenth time that afternoon when I caught Emily looking up at the sky with a slight frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked breathlessly from the exertion of climbing the hill.

"Look," she said, her eyes scanning the sky. My eyes lingered on her beautifully exposed neck for a few seconds before I glanced up at the sky. Sure enough, there was an ominous looking black cloud spreading over us.

"Shit," I breathed out.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emily straighten her head and look in my direction. I pretended not to notice as I felt her eyes roving over me.

"We should head back," she said after a few moments. I couldn't help but smile at the obvious disappointment I heard in her voice.

Wordlessly, I held out my hand for her and watched as her eyes lit up before she stepped forward and slipped her mitted hand in mine. Together we began to retrace our steps back to the hotel.

* * *

The trek out to our sledding hill had been challenging, but it was nothing compared to what we had to endure on our way back. The bruised sky opened up and began regale us with snowflakes the size of cotton balls. At first it was pretty and peaceful – it felt like it was just the two of us gliding through our own personal heaven – but soon enough the wind picked up and the sky got even darker.

Emily told me to pull my hat down past my eyebrows and keep my eyes trained on the ground so that the snow wouldn't get into them. I did as I was told, and thus left the responsibility of finding our way back to her.

Her hand never left mine as she pulled me through the sheets of snow that were pounding against our bodies.

A wave of relief washed over me when the hotel finally came into view. My legs were on fire from the exertion of wading through the deep snow, and my face was stinging from the cold. Unfortunately, the relief I felt was short-lived when I took a good look at the hotel and realized that despite the darkness, none of the lights were on.

"Em," I called out to her, raising my voice so she could hear me over the wind.

She turned to look at me with worry in her eyes. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, savoring the last fleeting moments of our surreal day before I let her hand drop back to her side. She smiled at me softly before turning and making her way towards the front door.

I sighed before reluctantly following in her wake. We were definitely back to reality.

* * *

Tim pounced on us the moment we stepped through the front door.

"Where the hell have you two been? It's a blizzard out there! What if either of you had gotten hurt? I wouldn't have been able to find you! What if –"

"We're here now," Emily interjected, "why aren't the lights on?"

Ahh Emily, always to the point.

Tim looked at her sternly for a few more seconds before finally letting the tension in his shoulders release as he exhaled.

"The power went out."

"When?"

"About an hour ago."

"Did it flicker before it went?" Both Tim and I raised our eyebrows at Emily. She rolled her eyes before elaborating,

"If it flickered first it means a branch or something probably went down on a wire, but if it went out all at once maybe there was just a bad connection with the circuit breaker." Tim was obviously as impressed as I was by her knowledge because he looked at her with his mouth slightly agape for a few seconds before sputtering out an answer.

"Uh…it flickered first. I think."

"Shit," Emily mumbled as she lifted her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. I opened my mouth to tell her that it wasn't that big of a deal, but she turned on her heel and walked back out of the front door before I got a chance. When I made a move to go after her, Tim placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Where is she going?" I asked as I turned to face him.

"Well, she _is_ Emily after all, so I'm guessing that she's going to go to find the source of the power loss and try to fix it."

"Yeah, but…it's a fucking blizzard out there!" Tim shrugged his shoulders,

"Quite frankly, I don't think she gives a shit. Want to come help me find some candles?" I looked at him exasperatedly as he turned around and walked deeper into the dark hotel.

I glanced back at the front door, hoping to catch a glimpse of Emily in order to quell my worries but it was too dark to actually _see _anything so I decided to take Tim up on his offer instead and help him find some candles.

* * *

Thirty minutes later we had managed to find and light enough candles to have a warm glow emanating on the entire first floor of the hotel. All of the fifteen guests were meandering around the rooms and talking quietly. Several people, including Effy and Cook, had tried to engage me in conversation a few times but I was too busy concentrating on the sound of the howling wind blowing against the hotel to properly respond. Eventually they got the message and left me to pace back and forth by myself.

When I heard the front door open, I grabbed the nearest candle and rushed towards it as quickly as I could without letting the flame burn out.

"Emily," I called out as I scurried up to her.

I could see that she was shaking off the snow that had accumulated on her hat and back as the light from the candle reached her, and when she looked up at me I immediately knew something was wrong. Without hesitating, I grabbed her trembling hand and started pulling her up the stairs.

When we reached her room I placed the candle next to her bed and turned to look at her more closely. There were streaks of frozen tears staining her face, and her eyes looked dark and hollow.

"Talk to me, Ems," I pleaded as I stepped closer to her and began to unzip her winter jacket. She shook her head and tried to speak through her chattering teeth,

"N-nothing. I'm f-fine."

I ran my fingers down her shoulders and was surprised to find that her shirt was wet. The snow had permeated her jacket.

"Fuck Ems, you're soaked to the core."

Without thinking I slipped my fingers under the hem of her top and told her to raise her hands before I pulled it over her head. She folded her arms over her chest the moment the shirt was off of her trembling body in order to preserve warmth.

I had never seen her look so small.

"I c-couldn't find the s-s-source of the p-power outage," she said, teeth chattering, as I unbuttoned and pushed her snow pants to the floor.

"Yeah, no shit," I responded reflexively as I hooked my fingers in her wet leggings and worked them down over her legs. I only realized what I'd said when I glanced back up at her and I saw that she had a sad frown on her face.

"Shitting hell," I mumbled as I took a step back and looked at her. The poor girl was standing in only her bra and underwear, shivering like a baby Chihuahua, and all I could do was make her feel worse about it.

"Em, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," I said, closing the distance between us and placing my arms on her shaking shoulders. My heart clenched painfully when I saw the tears in her eyes.

"I'm such a cow, aren't I?" I continued as I rubbed my hands up and down her arms, hoping that the friction would create some heat. I let out a breath of relief when the smallest of smiles played on her lips.

"Here," I said, pulling my sweater over my head, "it's pre-warmed."

She lifted her arms, allowing me to wrestle the sweater onto her. After a decent struggle, her head - full of static-y hair - popped out of the sweater, making her look fucking adorable despite the state she was in.

I looked down at her legs and couldn't help but smile when I saw that my sweater came down almost to her knees.

"Better?" She nodded her head.

I then took her hand in mine and led her over to her bed.

"Get in," I said, gesturing to the covers I was holding open for her.

I helped her under the sheets, pulled them up to her shoulders, and kissed her forehead just because I could.

"There, all tucked in," I whispered as I made to blow out the candle on the other side of the bed. Her cold hand shot out and grabbed my wrist before I had moved two steps.

"Stay," she croaked, "please."

I felt tears spring to my eyes when I heard the smallness of her voice. She looked so vulnerable, it was heartbreaking.

"Of course, let me just blow out the candle."

I returned to the side of the bed as quickly as I could, pulled back the covers, and slipped in next to her, inhaling sharply when her foot came in contact with my leg. Even through my leggings they felt as cold as ice-cubes.

"Come here," I said as I pulled her shivering body into mine.

I held her until the shaking subsided, trying to concentrate on anything except the way her now-warm thigh was pressed firmly in between my legs.

"I miss them sometimes," Emily whispered into my neck, "my parents, I mean."

If my hand hadn't been rubbing soothing circles on her back, it would have been smacking my forehead as realization dawned on me. That was what she had been upset about earlier and all I'd done was write it off as Emily being sad without actually considering _why_. I'm such a fucking twat sometimes.

"It's okay to miss them you know, nobody expects you not to." I pushed her bangs off her forehead and brushed my lips over the warm skin on her forehead before continuing.

"You don't have to be strong all the time, Em. Nobody expects that either."

She didn't respond for so long after my mini inspirational speech that I thought she had fallen asleep. After what seemed like forever, I felt the tension in her shoulders dissipate as she let out a strangled sob.

"It's okay," I whispered as I stroked her hair back, "it's okay."

Emily cried herself into a state of such exhaustion that even though she was asleep, tears were still intermittently running down her face.

I brushed away every single one until they finally relented.

When I was sure that she was sleeping soundly and that the worst of her sadness had passed, I slowly let myself fall into a slumber of my own.

.

.

* * *

I woke up some time later when my dreams were interrupted by the feeling of something skimming my lips. At first I thought I maybe I had just imagined it, but that theory was shattered when I cracked open my eyes.

Emily Fitch, yes, _Emily Fitch,_ was straddling my hips wearing nothing but my oversized sweater and looking down at me with adoring eyes while her red hair cascaded down around her face.

I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

"Em? What are you do-"

I was cut off by her leaning down and pressing her soft lips into mine. I gasped in surprise, raising my hands to grip her hips in order to steady her. She pulled back, her dark eyes looking into mine and whispered,

"Thank you."

Now, I generally pride myself on my ability to control my actions, but in this case, when I heard Emily's husky voice ring out in the room, and I _felt _her breath on my lips, I couldn't help myself.

Forgetting about her sad and vulnerable state entirely, I slowly trailed my hands up her back, watching as Emily closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling. It was quite possibly the hottest thing fucking _ever. _

I wrapped my hands along the back of her neck and pulled her down towards me. Her parted lips met mine eagerly, and soon enough her tongue was running along my bottom lip, begging for entrance. She groaned and subtly pressed her hips down into mine when I acquiesced.

Fuck me, this girl was really pushing my self-restraint to the limit.

When she ran her hands down over my stomach and slipped them under the hem of my shirt, something in me snapped to attention. I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her back slightly.

Her black eyes shot open almost immediately.

"What's wrong?" she whispered huskily.

I gulped audibly, trying to bring moisture back to my suddenly dry throat. I knew that I was about to royally fuck this up by ruining the moment, but as much as my body was screaming at me to just shut the hell up and keep kissing her, my mind was telling a different story.

"Ems, I don't think this is a good idea."

Hurt flashed in her eyes as she sat up and brought her hands over her mouth.

"I'm pushing you aren't I?" she said as she shook her head and started to shift off of me.

My hands flew to her hips and held them firmly in place as I tried to backtrack.

"No! No. Emily, shit, that's…" I took a deep breath to calm myself (I have the unique ability of twisting the way I say things to my imminent disadvantage) "that's not what I meant. It's just, if you keep kissing me like that I don't think I can hold back anymore."

In the few seconds that followed, Emily's face shifted from worried, to angry, to understanding, and finally to something that was scaring the shit out of me.

Desire.

Emily was looking at me like she _wanted_ me. Now. And it was making my head spin and my heart pound.

"I don't want to rush this," I managed to choke out as I gestured between us. It was my final, superhuman attempt at giving her an easy out.

She leaned down and kissed me instead.

"Let me thank you properly for earlier," she whispered seductively against my lips.

To say I was in shock would be an understatement. I had never seen this side of Emily, not that I was complaining, but still, come _on. _

She didn't wait for my answer as she began kissing, nibbling, and sucking on my neck. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as her nimble fingers found their way under my shirt and started burning a trail up my stomach. When the contact suddenly ceased, I opened my eyes cautiously, secretly still believing that this all _had _just been a dream.

Emily was sitting up straight, still straddling my hips, and looking down at me with an unreadable expression. I sat up along with her in order to be face to face and opened my mouth to speak but she put her finger up to my lips before I got the chance.

She trailed both her hands down my body and looped her fingers under the hem of my shirt. When I looked back up at her, her eyes were filled with a softness and adoration that made my heart ache. Nobody had ever looked at me like that before.

Slowly, too fucking slowly, she pulled my shirt up over my head. I felt my ears start to burn as her eyes trailed over my torso.

I generally don't care what people think, but Emily is so much more than just another person. I _like _her. Obviously. But, it's more than that. I want to measure up to the person she sees me as - I don't want to ever disappoint her.

Her black eyes met mine after what felt like forever. She must have picked up on my sudden self-consciousness because she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on my lips that was so full of emotion, and so reassuring, that I'm pretty sure it melted whatever ice was left on my heart.

"You're so beautiful," she whispered quietly against my lips.

Something inside me ignited as she said that. Emily wanted this every bit as much as I did so I wasn't going to hold back anymore. I was going to show her what I was feeling. For once in my fucking life I was going to put myself out there and forget about the pain she could one day cause me by my doing so.

Emily was worth it.

I pulled her (my) sweater over her head, revealing a black bra and matching knickers, and pushed her back down onto the bed in one smooth movement. I couldn't help but think '_score one for badass Naomi' _as I did so because really, that shit was fucking smooth, and the squeal of surprise that Emily let out when her head hit the pillow was priceless. My lips were on hers before she had time to protest.

She brought her hands up to the back of my neck and pulled me closer as I lowered my body down onto hers. The skin-to-skin contact made the heat in my face and chest plummet down between my legs, and the fact that she had shifted her thigh so it was pressing into my centre definitely was not helping.

I pulled back after a few minutes to take in a few gulps of much needed oxygen (and to sneak a peek at her ridiculous body of course). She was breathing heavily, which was making her chest heave up and down enticingly while her stomach muscles were flexing slightly. I swallowed back the dryness in my throat.

My eyes met hers, and shitting balls, I couldn't believe that _I _was the reason she looked so turned on right now.

I leaned down and started trailing open-mouthed kisses from her neck down over her chest and onto her stomach. I was on a roll until I looped my fingers into the band of her underwear and suddenly remembered that I had no fucking idea what I was doing. At all.

Emily must have sensed my hesitation because she cupped my face with her hands and urged me back up to her.

"I'm supposed to be the one thanking you, remember?" she said huskily as she started to shift herself out from under me.

_Fuck that, _I thought to myself as I pressed my thigh into her hot centre, effectively freezing her in her tracks.

I brought my lips back down to hers, kissing her hungrily as I slipped by hands behind her back and unhooked her black bra. Her breath hitched as I lowered my lips to her now bare breasts while my hand traveled further down to the band of her knickers.

This time though I didn't hesitate as I slipped my fingers under the band and into her wet folds, causing her to let out a strangled cry as she arched her back into me.

"My God…" she panted as I picked up the speed, "Naoms…"

I pulled back completely when I felt her breathing start to hitch in short succession. Her eyes shot open almost immediately.

"The fuck, Nai" she breathed out. I smiled at her teasingly before pushing two fingers deep inside of her, causing her to throw her head back into the pillow and moan loudly.

I slowly started to slide my fingers in and out of her, relishing the feel of her warmth. Soon her hips were rising to meet me with every thrust and her fingernails were digging into my back.

"Harder," she begged, "please…"

I did as I was told and watched in amazement as she threw her arms out to the side and squeezed two fistfuls of sheets in her hands while rising up to meet me eagerly.

"Yes," she called out throatily, "fucking…yes!"

When I sensed that she was nearing the edge, I began circling her centre with my thumb as I curled my fingers inside of her and soon I felt her walls clenching around me.

She brought one hand up to her mouth and bit into it in an attempt to stifle her final cry of release while she shuddered beneath me. I left my fingers inside of her as she came down, peppering her with kisses all the while.

"Oh. My. God," she croaked out when she'd caught her breath, "Naomi, that was…"

"What?" I pushed, suddenly nervous.

She opened her eyes and looked at me steadily before shaking her head and curling herself into me. Despite the fact that I desperately wanted to know what she was going to say and was slightly troubled because she didn't, I couldn't help but smile at how perfectly we fit together.

I sighed contentedly as I pulled her closer into me and started stroking her hair soothingly, enjoying the feeling of her warm breath on my neck.

"I love you," she whispered almost inaudibly after a few minutes.

Her breathing evened out shortly thereafter, leaving me and my pounding heart alone to my thoughts.

.

.

* * *

**I hope didn't burn your retinas too badly with this chapter, but it had to be done. I mean, it was about freakin' time, no? **

**;)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! Sorry I didn't get a chance to answer them, I'm kinda pressed for time at the mo.**

**Anyway, enjoy the update! (hopefully)**

* * *

_Emily loves me, _I repeated to myself for the thousandth time that night.

_Emily loves me and I just made love to her and now she's lying in my arms as if nothing else in the world matters. _

As I lay there listening to Emily's breathing and studying her delicate features, something dawned on me. I'm sure anybody who had known me six months ago would have easily seen it, but I didn't truly recognize it until Emily had mumbled those three little words.

For the first time in a long, long time, I was _happy. _

I don't know exactly how long I lay there delighting in the feel of Emily's head resting on my shoulder, but eventually I decided to head down to the kitchen to get a glass of water because there was just no way I was going to be falling asleep anytime soon anyway.

Slowly, I disentangled myself from Emily's embrace and got out of the bed as gently as I could. I found my (our) sweater in a heap on the floor a few feet away from the bed and pulled it over my head before quietly making my way out of Emily's room and down the remaining flights of stairs.

* * *

I'd been in the hotel's kitchen a countless number of times since my first day at the hotel, but I had never seen it look quite as beautiful as it did then. Because the power was still out, I had to rely on the moon and the light it reflected off of the snow outside to navigate my way around, but the large windows allowed so much light in that I could see almost perfectly.

I grabbed a cup from the cabinet, walked over to the sink to fill it up, and sat down at the kitchen table with my legs tucked under me, enjoying the peace and quiet.

As luck would have it, the lights turned back on without warning, momentarily blinding me and causing me to spill my glass of water into my lap. I stood up hastily, blinking rapidly to try to quell the pain in my eyes while I looked around for something to mop up the water with.

I spotted a hand towel near the sink and began to make my way over to it but as I was crossing the room, the shrill ring of the hotel's _only _fucking telephone made me damn near jump out of my skin.

I looked around for a clock, wondering who the hell would be calling at this hour of the night. The phone rang a second time and third time before I decided to answer it just to tell whoever was on the other end to shut the _fuck _up already.

Already annoyed, I strode over to the phone and ripped it off the receiver,

"I don't know who in their right mind would ring a hotel at this hour of the night, but somebody better have fucking died because I am _not _going to enable you by –"

"Naomi love, is that you?"

Gina.

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Of course it was Gina. Who else would it be?

"Hi mum," I sighed, "why am I not surprised?"

"Why hasn't anybody answered the phone until now? I've been ringing practically all day. I've been going mad with worry, I thought something had happened or –"

"Mum!" I interrupted, "chill the fuck out, yeah? The power went out."

"Oh. That'd explain it."

"Serves you right for dumping me in this shithole you call a hotel," I quipped, laughing at my own ingenuity. My moment of celebration was cut short however when Gina spoke again.

"I'm coming to get you."

My blood turned to ice when I heard those five little words.

"Mum, I was kidding in case you didn't catch that."

"I know you were, sweet. I'm still coming to get you though. We fly out in two days."

What.

The.

Fuck.

"Naomi love, did you hear me?"

"No." I gripped the phone harder. "I mean yes I did hear you, but no I'm not leaving."

There was an ominous silence on the other end of the line.

"I like it here, mum," I continued, "I feel like I'm a better person. I feel less –"

"Naomi?" Gina's voice rang through the line, "Naomi? Can you hear me? I think the line –" crackle "breaking up" crackle "bags packed" crackle "pick you up" crackle "two days".

Silence.

"Mum?" I called out helplessly, "mum _no_, fuck, mum?"

I slammed the phone down on the receiver in frustration and pinched the bridge of my nose with my fingers.

_This isn't happening. I'm still dreaming. This _can't _be happening._

The room started to spin so I staggered over to the edge of the counter to get my balance back.

_This isn't happening, _I repeated to myself as I sank down to the ground, _not now. Please, not now._

_

* * *

_

So here I am now, lying in my own bed in my own room with nothing by my long sweater on, and watching as the rising sun dances across my legs. I didn't bother going back to Emily's bed last night. What would be the point?

What am I even going to say to her? 'Oh hey, we had sex last night and you told me you loved me, so now I'm leaving'. I guess this is why they say that Karma is a bitch…because she really truly _is. _

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the irony of my situation. The moment I decide to stop running and show somebody who I really am, Karma rolls in with a devilish smirk on her face and smacks any hope I had left right out of my poor, pathetic, beaten body.

Well, fuck her.

But there's really no point in getting all uppity and pointing fingers, is there? It doesn't change the facts. I'm leaving. The day after tomorrow.

Fuck.

I sit up on the edge of my bed and drop my head into my hands. _What the hell am I going to do? _I want to cry, but again, what would be the point?

I lift my head out of my hands instead and examine my fingers. I look at them, remembering where they'd been just a few hours ago. _Inside her_, the little voice in my head says, _inside the girl you love. _

Emily doesn't deserve this. A wave of guilt washes over me as I imagine her waking up in her bed this morning. Alone. I can't imagine the thoughts that must have gone through her head.

I let out a frustrated cry and get my sorry ass out of my bed. I need to find Emily and talk to her. I have no fucking idea what I'm going to say, but I can't let her come to her own conclusions. I just cant.

I'm out of my room and making my way up to Emily's the moment I make the decision. As I'm climbing the staircase leading to the fourth floor, I catch a glimpse of red, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"Em?" I call out quietly.

Wait, what the fuck am I doing? I kick my legs back into motion and take the remaining steps two at a time. I reach the landing just in time to see Emily turning into one of the bathrooms and closing the door.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I slow my pace down enough to gather my wits. When I hear the shower in the bathroom turn on, I lean against the banister to give myself a moment to catch my breath.

That's when I see him.

He's looking down at his feet as he climbs the stairs and doesn't become aware of my presence until he literally bumps into me.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't see you there," he says as he smiles down at me.

"Yeah no shit," I mumble.

He flips his floppy black hair away from his forehead to get a better look at me.

"Do you by any chance know where Emily is?" he asks, looking completely sincere.

I scowl at him, because that's what I do, and point in the direction of the bathroom door. I have no idea who this guy thinks he is, asking about Emily and all, but he turns away from me before I get a chance to properly bitch him out.

I watch in mild interest as he walks down the hall until he is in front of the bathroom door and turns to face it. My interest turns to confusion when he pulls his t-shirt over his head and carelessly drops it on the floor. My mouth drops open as he unbuttons his jeans and pulls them, along with his underwear, down to the floor.

"Pardon, but what the _fuck _do you think you're doing?" I practically screech as I start rushing towards him.

He flashes me a dazzling smile before he opens the bathroom door and slips inside the steamy room. I get to the door just as he closes it in my face and feel like throwing up when I hear the click of the lock.

What the fuck is going on?

.

.

* * *

Emily woke up alone.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions, she sat up in the bed and looked around the room.

It was empty.

She tried to ignore the growing pressure in her chest as she swung her feet over the edge of bed and stood up. _Maybe she went to the bathroom. Or maybe she was hungry. _

Emily glanced at the analog clock on her bedside table.

10:15

She sighed in relief. _Naomi's definitely in the kitchen, she can't last until now without coffee._

Images from the previous night flooded Emily's memory, and she found herself unable to wipe the happy grin off her face. She had never experienced anything even remotely close to it.

Naomi had been fucking wonderful. Emily knew what a struggle it was for the blonde to just be brave and let herself _feel, _but she was glad Naomi finally had because last night was totally worth it.

In her mind at least.

Another pang of panic made Emily's heart start to pick up speed. _What if she regrets it? Maybe that's why she's not here. _

Emily shook her head in frustration. _Don't jump to conclusions, _she mentally scolded, _not until you've at least seen her. _

Deciding to take a shower instead of overanalyzing, she grabbed her towel, slipped on an oversized t-shirt, and made her way down to the fourth floor bathroom.

She turned the water on and leaned back against the sink, waiting for the shower to heat up.

After a few minutes, she tested the water's temperature to make sure it was warm enough. Deciding it was, she pulled the t-shirt over her head, unclipped her bra, shimmied her underwear down her white legs, and slid open the glass door of the shower.

She let out a contented 'ahh' sound as the hot water wet her hair and back. She tilted her head back and let the water run down her front, enjoying the soothing feeling of it massaging her skin.

Not wanting to be a bathroom hog, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo and began to lather it into her hair. She started to hum quietly as she kneaded her fingers in her scalp, completely oblivious to the raging storm that was headed her way.

She didn't notice anything was amiss until she thought she heard the bathroom door open and close. Her fingers stopped their kneading as she turned her ear towards the sound.

"Nai?" she called out.

The door to the shower slid open, and she felt someone step in. She started to turn around in order to cover herself up and to rinse the shampoo out of her hair so she could open her eyes, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Nai?" she whispered as she felt the person step closer to her.

A pair of lips brushed against hers and something else entirely brushed against her leg. Emily stiffened immediately (no pun intended), and took a step back.

This _definitely _was not Naomi.

When whoever the hell this was put his hand on her shoulder again, Emily lost it. She screamed and launched her body at her assailant, feeling the sharp point in her shoulder ramming into his chest before he fell to the ground.

She felt around blindly for the handle of the sliding door, and was out of the shower in two seconds flat. She grabbed her towel from where she'd left it on the sink and wiped her eyes with it, vaguely registering the sound of someone banging on the bathroom door.

She blinked her eyes open a few times and looked around before wrapping the towel around herself and walking back to the shower, ready to pound the shit out of whoever was in there.

She ripped the sliding door to the side but stopped in her tracks when she saw it was –

"Freddie?"

He was curled up in a ball on the shower floor with his hands on his chest and gasping for breath.

"Em," he wheezed as he held his palm out at her, "don't come any closer, please."

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Freddie, what the _fuck?" _she asked as she stepped inside and started to help him to his feet.

"My God Em, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Emily let go of his hand, causing him to fall back down to the ground, and straightened her back.

"You're kidding, right?"

He looked up at her from under his floppy hair and smiled mischievously.

"I thought maybe we could pick up where we left off – OW, what the hell?"

"Fuck off Freddie," Emily said after she'd kicked him, "I'm not interested."

She then turned on her heel and walked over to the bathroom door, turning her head back to face him as she opened it,

"And put some clothes on will you? Nobody wants to see that."

She giggled contentedly to herself as she stepped out of the bathroom but froze in her tracks when she came face to face with a pale-looking Naomi.

"Naomi?"

The blonde turned and practically fled away from her. Emily took a second to register what Naomi must be thinking before she took off after her.

"Naomi, please!" she said as she took the stairs down two by two, "it's not what it looks like!"

The blonde was deceivingly fast, her long legs propelling her foreword faster than Emily had estimated. She finally reached Naomi just as she was slamming the door to her room.

Without thinking, Emily stuck her foot out to catch the door before it closed, forgetting entirely that she was barefoot. Whatever pain she felt was worth it though because it gave her just enough time to slip into the room and close the door quietly behind her.

Naomi was already sitting on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands.

"Nai," Emily started tentatively, "that wasn't what it looked like, I promise." When Naomi didn't answer, Emily continued.

"I haven't seen him in forever. Actually, I thought he was you, and that you were coming to surprise me in the shower to pick up where we left off last night…" Emily trailed off, feeling a sudden blush spread across her face.

_Too soon Emily, too soon._

Naomi took her head out of her hands and looked up Emily. She had dark rings under her eyes and it looked like she was about to cry.

Emily stepped foreword instinctively, but Naomi put out her hand to stop her.

"No, Ems, please. Just, don't come any closer."

Emily swallowed down the lump in her throat upon seeing Naomi this way.

"You regret last night," she said matter-of-factly, hating how weak her voice sounded.

Naomi looked back at her helplessly before dropping her hands to her side and hanging her head.

"Of course not," she answered quietly.

Emily's heart soared despite herself. She stepped forward and used the tip of her finger to gently urge Naomi's chin up to look at her.

"Then why are we still talking?" she asked, her voice husky as she leaned down and kissed Naomi softly.

She felt the blonde hesitate, but soon their lips were moving in conjunction. Emily adjusted her towel before straddling Naomi's lean legs and pushing her back down onto the bed.

"_Now _it's my turn to thank you_,"_ she said throatily between kisses as she firmly pressed her thigh against the blonde's centre. Naomi groaned in response before Emily leaned started sucking on her pulse point.

She lifted the sweater that she herself had been wearing the night before up past the blonde's hips and stomach, allowing her hands trail circles on the soft skin she found there.

"Take this off," she commanded as she sat back on Naomi's hips. She helped the blonde pull the sweater over her head before attacking her lips again.

Naomi's hands gripped her hips tightly as she kissed her way down the blonde's chest and ran her fingers over her breasts, feeling her hardened nipples through the fabric.

The blonde arched her back and ground her centre into Emily's thigh as Emily pushed her bra aside and took a hardened nipple into her mouth.

"God, Ems…" Naomi breathed.

Emily trailed her hands down over Naomi's taught stomach before cupping her through her underwear, feeling her heat radiating through the thin material. Naomi pushed herself up into her hand upon feeling the contact and started to subtly move her hips.

"Jeez, Nai," Emily remarked, "impatient are we?"

"Emily," Naomi groaned, "please…"

That was all Emily needed to hear. She started kissing her way down Naomi's stomach as she shifted herself down onto her knees on the floor at the base of the bed.

She slowly pulled Naomi's underwear down over her knees and off her legs before kissing her way back up each one. She settled herself between the blonde's legs, kissing her inner thigh one last time for good measure before glancing back up at her.

Naomi had propped herself up on her elbows and was looking down at Emily with darkened blue eyes that were as wide as plates.

"I love you," Emily said huskily, brushing aside the hint of distress that flashed in Naomi's eyes before she lowered her head to taste her.

The blonde fell back into the bed the moment Emily's tongue touched her and inhaled sharply.

Encouraged, Emily continued licking and sucking until Naomi's hips were rising up to meet her and she was breathing heavily. Without warning, she plunged two fingers deep inside the blonde while her mouth continued its onslaught.

"Fuck, Emily," Naomi panted, "I think I'm gonna…"

Emily curled her fingers and picked up her pace despite the burn she felt in her arm. Naomi's walls clenched around her fingers as her body shook in pleasure.

Emily rode out the climax with her before sliding back up Naomi's body, only noticing that something was amiss when she saw that the blonde was covering her face with her hands.

"Nai?" Emily asked unsurely, "what's wrong? Did I do something?"

Naomi took her hands away from her face, revealing fresh tears, and shook her head,

"I love you," she said shakily.

A beautiful smile broke out on Emily's face as she leaned down and kissed the blonde on the lips.

"Don't forget it though," Naomi added when Emily had pulled back.

.

.

* * *

**My apologies for the abrupt ending, but I'm _really _pressed for time. **

**Next chapter will be up before tomorrow. Hope you liked it!**


	21. Chapter 21

The next day passed way too quickly for Naomi's liking. She spent every possible minute either kissing, touching, hugging, or talking to Emily. She felt like she couldn't breathe properly whenever the redhead wasn't by her side.

Was she being clingy?

Maybe.

Was it necessary?

Definitely.

Naomi still hadn't worked up the courage to tell Emily that Gina was coming to pick her up in less than 24 hours. She had however confronted Emily about the whole naked-boy-in-the-shower thing.

"So who is he?" Naomi asked as she absentmindedly stroked Emily's silky red hair. They had just finished making love for the fourth time that morning and were lying naked and entangled in each other's arms on Naomi's bed.

Emily sighed heavily before answering.

"He's a guy I used to know. I dunno why he's here though."

"Just a guy you used to know?" Naomi pressed, putting an emphasis on the word 'just'.

Emily sighed again and propped herself up on her elbow. She traced a line from Naomi's forehead down over her nose and mouth.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, her voice huskier than usual due to overuse.

"How well did you know him?"

Emily kept her eyes trained on her fingers.

"We had sex," she muttered.

Naomi literally felt her heart stop beating in chest when the redhead's words sunk in. Emily, _her _Emily and that guy?

No.

It wasn't possible.

"I thought you said you were a virgin," Naomi said, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

Emily's eyes met hers. She looked ashamed and Naomi hated that she actually felt bad.

"I said I'd never had sex with a girl, not that I was a virgin."

Naomi felt like she'd been punched in the gut. It was true, Emily had never specified, but still, she couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"Why?" she asked civilly, using all the self-control she could muster.

Emily looked down at her fingers again.

"It's a long story."

"I have time," Naomi countered. _Liar, _screamed the little voice inside her head. _Time is running out. _

"Remember when I told you that for the three months after my parents died, all I did was cry?"

Naomi nodded her head, wondering what the hell this had to do with her sleeping with Freddie.

"Well, one day I woke up and I just didn't feel anything. I think it was my body's natural way of defending itself or something, I don't know." Emily glanced up at Naomi before looking back down at her fingers.

"Anyway, for months I couldn't feel _anything. _I had finally stopped crying, but as a consequence, I also stopped laughing. I wasn't ever happy or sad or angry. I just was." Emily paused for a second, seemingly collecting herself before adding, "my body was an empty shell. I was simply alive, nothing more nothing less."

Naomi was startled by the revelation despite the anger she was feeling. She knew things had been hard for Emily after her parents had died, but Emily had never gone into detail about the specifics before.

"After a while I started experimenting with certain things," Emily continued, "I tried anything and everything that would make a normal person feel something. I started with adrenaline-pumping sports, hoping to feel fear or excitement or exhilaration or anything at all. When that didn't work I moved on to other things…" she trailed off.

"So you fucked Freddie and then you started feeling again?" Naomi snapped, her jealous finally getting the better of her.

Emily looked up at her and smiled softly.

"That's the thing though, everybody says that sex makes you feel things, that it changes things. Well, in my case the fact that I _didn't _feel anything is what changed things."

Naomi opened her mouth to speak but Emily interrupted her,

"I know this sounds like a cliché, and we all know how much you hate clichés, but I realized that sex without love is pointless, and consequently realized that life without love is pointless and that the reason I couldn't feel anymore was because I'd forgotten how to love." Her voice had gotten quieter and quieter as she spoke, eventually ending in a whisper.

Naomi placed her hand over Emily's and rubbed her thumb over it.

"You have a roundabout way of coming to conclusions, don't you?"

Emily choked out a laugh and looked up at Naomi,

"Sorry for having lied about it."

"You didn't lie, you just didn't tell the whole truth," Naomi assured her.

"There's not much of a difference though, is there?"

Naomi swallowed the lump in her throat as the truth of Emily's words sunk in.

"No, there isn't," she agreed quietly.

.

.

* * *

Naomi watched with a thumping heart as the taxi pulled up in front of the hotel. She was looking out of the window in Emily's room and buttoning her shirt back up when Emily came up behind her and looped her arms around her waist.

"That's odd, I didn't know anyone new was checking in today," she remarked.

Naomi didn't answer. She didn't need to.

Both girls watched as Gina stepped out of the taxi and made her way towards the front door.

Naomi felt Emily's grip tighten around her waist.

"Your mum?"

Naomi turned around and looked down into Emily's confused brown eyes.

"Em-"

"Did you know she was coming?" Emily asked, the panic rising in her voice.

"Ems, listen to me," she took the redhead's petite hands in hers, "I'm leaving."

Emily visibly blanched as she took a step back.

"What?" she breathed.

"Em, I'm sor-"

Emily's hand connecting with her cheek quieted her instantly.

"When were you planning on telling me, before or after you fucked me?" she hissed.

"Oh wait…I guess after," she added sarcastically.

Naomi shook her head helplessly.

"I didn't know until after –"

"So you didn't know five minutes ago?"

Naomi let her hands drop to her side as she shook her head in defeat.

"Fuck. You." Emily said with venom in her tone before she turned and started for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Naomi asked feebly.

"To help a guest check out," Emily said without so much as a backwards glance.

.

.

* * *

Naomi approached Emily slowly. The redhead was standing on the front porch with her arms crossed over her chest while Tim helped Gina pack her own bags into the trunk of the taxi.

"Emily," she said quietly as she held her hands out.

"Don't you dare say you're sorry again, Naomi."

"I love you."

Emily's brown eyes snapped to hers, the anger in them melting away as tears flooded in.

"That isn't fair," she croaked.

"I know. It doesn't make it any less true though."

Emily dropped her head as a tear fell down her cheek. Naomi stepped forward and kissed it away.

"I'm so, so sorry Ems, but I have to go. Mum says it's a family emergency."

"I know, she told me," Emily answered, trying desperately not to let any more tears fall.

Naomi brushed her lips against Emily's lips one last time, savoring their taste.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, please believe that."

Emily nodded her head somberly, unable to speak without sobbing.

Naomi pulled the redhead in for a tight hug, relishing the feeling of her small body pressed against her own, before turning and making her way towards the taxi.

* * *

"Ready, love?" Gina called from the front seat as she buckled her seatbelt.

Naomi didn't answer.

She turned to look at Emily still standing on the front porch through the window of the taxi. The redhead had tears flowing freely down her cheeks now, and Naomi found that she did too.

The taxi started its engine and began pulling away, making Naomi's heart feel like it was being ripped out of her chest. She watched the form of the girl she loved getting smaller and smaller as the taxi drove down the driveway.

"I love you," she whispered and put her hand up to the cold glass of the window.

As the taxi turned out of the driveway and onto the main road, Naomi wondered if the acute ache in her chest would ever go away.

Somehow, she seriously doubted it. At least not until she was back in Emily's arms.

.

.

.

End.

.

.

.

* * *

**For now. **

**Please don't hate me, I have a good reason, I promise.**

**I'm going to be going to New Zealand and Australia for 3 months starting _tomorrow. _I'm already up way too late as it is, but I really wanted to get this up before I left instead of leaving you all hanging.**

** I want to thank each and every one of you for reading, and of course all those who reviewed. You have no idea how inspiring you've been. I don't know, it feels good to know that there are people our there who are actually reading, ya know?**

**Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm going to write a sequel for this. What else am I going to do on the plane for 16 hours? ;)**

**Please, don't hesitate to lace into me...heck knows I totally deserve it for leaving the story like this! **

**Thank you again, and I'm pretty sure you'll be hearing from me in a few months. Until then, enjoy all the fabulous fics on here!**

**Tootloo,**

**-Colibio**


End file.
